Umi no Soko Kara
by MareisuinShihaku
Summary: So maybe they weren't the same in appearance. So maybe they couldn't remember each other anymore. So maybe they were adapted Pokemon now. But all of that didn't matter, because deep down, they were still the same before all this despair came crashing down. Forming an exploration team really can help, huh... (KyoSaya, AU-ish, Moemons. Also lots of genderswaps here, like Male!Kyoko.)
1. The Beginning

**Ha.**

**Haha.**

**Hahahaha OH SWEET MOTHER OF MERCY IT'S FINALLY HAPPENED. Reisu is writing another multi-chaptered fic she may or may not be able to finish. Oh dear. Includes KyoSaya, Male!Kyoko (hopefully better now), Moemon designs drawn by me, and... a crossover. I love crossovers, don't you? Anyway...**

* * *

"Hmph… damn bastards… how come they can tell me what to do…" he grumbled under his breath as he sat at the edge of the beach, murmuring more death threats, his chin propped up on his hands glumly.

This particular young boy is, in fact, what they call a Pokemon – but since this world is inhabited only by Pokemon, and they did have to make their living somehow, they adapted to their conditions and transformed themselves into (or at least something resembling) humans. Now, he had flaming short red hair, with a semi-long ponytail tied with a flame clip. Around his neck, yellow feathers of all sizes adorned it, and he wore a red-orange sleeveless shirt. A yellow belt is secured around his waist, with the same yellow feathers hanging from the belt lazily. He completed the look with red-orange shorts and crimson slippers. All in all, he is a Torchic.

"Bah!" he stood up abruptly, clenching his fists tightly beside him. "That's it; I've made up my mind! I'm gonna join an exploration team and when I get strong enough, I'm gonna kick those pussies' asses all way to Sunday!" he declared confidently. A few moments later, his posture drooped a bit. "But, hm, who's gonna be my partner? I don't wanna just march in Mystery Dungeons by myself, that'd be pretty intimidating…"

He was about to pace back and forth the entire beach, seeing as it wasn't all that big anyway, when a huge wave of water practically dumped itself over his entirety and once the wave evaporated/faded back into the ocean, a dripping-wet Torchic shook in rage and fury with all the anger clearly shown in his little Torchic face.

"**_WHO DID THAT?!_**" he shrieked, turning around violently to search for the culprit/s in the attack. A slight 'eep!' revealed the location immediately, and the Torchic swiveled his head in an instant to the boulder where the sound had come from. A hushed chastising was whispered behind the rock and he narrowed his eyes – two of them, perhaps? Either way, he was going to break every single bone in their body, so it wouldn't matter at all.

"E-Er, we did!" Ah, they made themselves known. A duo of a boy and a girl stepped out of the rock, the boy attempting to make himself look imposing even though he was sweating profusely. "I-I am Kriemhild! And this is Gretchen!" he pointed at himself for the first name, and directed towards the absolutely horrified girl for the second.

"K-K-K-Kriemhild! Shouldn't we have _not _told him our names?! He's gonna hunt us down now! Ohh, we're doomed!" she was almost on her knees by now, ready to start begging for the pissed off Torchic to spare their lives.

Kriemhild waved it off. "It'll be fine! I mean, Chief'll take care of 'im, so we don't have to- ACK!" Just as soon as the last syllable left his mouth, the Torchic sprinted over to them with surprising speed and slashed the other boy straight on the face with his sharp nails. "Holy mother of Mew! What'd you do that for?"

Gretchen immediately took the hint and grabbed something underneath the Torchic's neckfeathers with impressive agility, leaving the redhead with no time to act before it was stolen. In the small girl's clutched hands was a red gem encrusted in a golden pin. At the edges, small and barely noticeable holes still had the soft white string threaded in it to make some sort of necklace.

The Torchic practically went white with rage. He threw himself on the duo with hands flailing around wildly, ready to scratch both of them to death. Kriemhild and Gretchen quickly ran for it, zooming off for the cave not too far away. The cave is usually just called 'the cave', but the Torchic knew better than to go in immediately by himself; The Cave is a Mystery Dungeon, and most of the civilized Pokemon avoided going inside The Cave as much as possible. He himself really shouldn't enter The Cave either – it was absolutely filled with Water-type Pokemon everywhere, and since he is a Fire-type, it would be insane to enter there without at least someone helping him ou-

"AH! I-Is that them? Owowow, my arm…"

Spinning at the sudden voice, the Torchic stared at the blue-haired girl quickly running his way. She stopped next to him, panting heavily, and then turned to look at him with sea-blue eyes. He tilted his head to the side, inquiring about her sudden appearance.

"Hey, did you see a Koffing and a Zubat come by? Called themselves Kriemhild and Gretchen, I think?" she asked. She had teal blue hair, with a tuft of hair making itself known by poking out higher than the rest of the wayward strands a bit more. She wore what looked like a one-piece blue swimsuit, but with short-shorts. She had two yellow clips to hold back her hair at one side, and in the center of her chest, a yellow 'V' was placed. On both sides of her short-covered thighs were red spikes, and a reptilian-like tail made itself known behind her by swinging side to side agitatedly, with more of those red spikes above the aqua blue tail. The Torchic confirmed her to be of a Totodile species, albeit he was taken aback at the huge gash on her right arm. Since when…?

He decided to reply. "Yeah, they went over there," he pointed at the cave with a scowl. "I was gonna go after them too, but since it's a Mystery Dungeon, and filled with Water-types at that, I tho-"

"Then, no time to waste!" he was surprised as the Totodile grabbed his wrist and sped off into the cave hurriedly. "Let's team up for now to get after them! I'm Sayaka, what's your name?"

He was confused for a moment – should he really team up with this peculiar Totodile? Then again, he didn't exactly have much choice in the matter, and he _really _needed that gem back. So he supposed he'll go along with Sayaka for now, then.

"Kyosuke." He responded simply. A sudden tremble passed over Sayaka's entire body, and she almost halted, but Kyosuke pulled her along deeper into The Cave. The Totodile let herself be pulled, shaking her head slightly at the thought that entered her brain when he mentioned his name.

'_He's not that Kyosuke. Stupid Sayaka._'

They found the stairs in all four floors quickly enough, avoiding battle since Kyosuke is weak to water, and Sayaka's arm seriously needed treatment, and they arrived at the pit of The Cave in record speed. Now that he wasn't as angry as before, Kyosuke could get a good look at the duo and confirmed them to be Koffing and Zubat; the Koffing was a male with shoulder-length violet hair, and an indigo-collared violet long-sleeved sweatshirt. A skull with crossbones was stitched messily on the side of the shirt, and he also wore dark indigo sweatpants, finishing the look with violet Converses. The Zubat, on the other hand, had long blue hair that covered her eyes and small, almost unnoticeable, Zubat ears at the side of her head. A small purple ribbon was cutely tied around her neck, complimenting her simple one-piece blue dress and bat wings at her side. Two long and thin blue strands connected at the back of her dress waved in the air like coattails.

"Gah! Looks like they did find us…" Kriemhild the Koffing muttered with an irritated look on his face.

Gretchen the Zubat looked terrified about her soon-to-come painful future. "Oh Arceus! W-W-What are we going to do? If we fail, not only are _they _going to kick our butts, but Chief's gonna-! Ahh, I don't even wanna think about it!"

Sayaka, on the other hand, stepped up to them and gritted her sharp teeth, clenching her left fist tightly. "Y-You…! Give me back my Soul Gem, otherwise I can't guarantee your time in this world!"

Kyosuke raised his eyebrow. Her, too? Was he not the only one with-

He was snapped out of his thoughts once more as the Koffing spread out his hand, revealing four poisonous spikes in the spaces between the fingers. He grinned proudly, and clenched the spikes tighter, causing a large amount of poison gas to spray out all of a sudden. Sayaka jumped back, surprised, but she hardened her glare.

"Kriemhild, come on, let's just get out of here! We've got the materials, now we can just give them to Chief!" Gretchen persuaded, but her cries fell on deaf ears. The Koffing shook his head stubbornly, and dashed forward, ready to tackle Kyosuke on the gut. The Torchic narrowed his eyes.

"If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get, then." He muttered.

Kyosuke easily jumped over the sloppily aimed attack and readied his hands, the nails glowing and growing longer instantly as he swooped down at his prey, slashing Kriemhild on his back. However, the gas that had been released wasn't just for show, and a bright flash of light emitted around his hands before he tumbled back, the searing pain stunning his mind for a bit. The Koffing looked proud at the feat the poison gas had done, but he didn't expect a sudden force slammed on his back, right where the slash marks were still bleeding out. The force turned out to be Gretchen, blown back by the Totodile's angered slashing. They both tried to stand back up, legs trembling unsteadily all the while, when Kyosuke took action and formed a leapt at them once more, this time kicking the Koffing on the face, effectively knocking him out.

Sayaka, on the other hand, looked worse for wear. Gretchen had attempted far-range combat with her, and since she didn't know any long-range attacks yet, she had to run around The Pit and chase after the frightened Zubat while Gretchen shot off air cutters at the Totodile with her wings. These had effectively cut her skin and clothes, leaving rips and tears all over her. Having had enough, Sayaka leapt forward and Gretchen, not expecting it, received a point-blank scratch on the face with Sayaka's hands, fueled by annoyance and anger mixed in. When Gretchen had crashed into her partner-in-crime and stood back up, you could say Sayaka hadn't taken this very nicely and, coupled with her already aching arm, dealt a harsh uppercut to the Zubat's chin. This time, she stumbled around before flopping over and fainting.

The duo of Torchic and Totodile panted tiredly for a moment, before they let out a sigh and sat back down on the moist sand and rock surrounding them, breathing out their respective groans of pain. "That was tiring. I'm hungry…" Kyosuke muttered, to which Sayaka nodded in agreement. "Likewise."

The Koffing struggled to get back up when they weren't looking, however, and grabbed Gretchen, attempting to scamper out of the pit without being noticed. This didn't work out very well for them in the end, seeing as how their major injuries were terribly limiting them from being stealthy, and Sayaka grabbed on to the Koffing's pant sleeve. He froze, and slowly turned back, irritated. "Fine, fine! Here, take your damned gems or whatever!" He threw the two gems on the ground, resulting to Sayaka scrambling to get the two items before they sank deeper, and Kriemhild escaped successfully.

Sayaka examined the gems for a moment once she got them back; one was hers, a blue and crescent shaped sparkling gem with all the shades of the ocean, and the other was (presumably) Kyosuke's, a red jewel with the fires of happiness and sadness encrusted in an elegant golden pin. She carefully felt the scarlet gem for a while, bearing in mind the somewhat striking resemblance of the gem's to her own, before handing it over to the tired Kyosuke. The Torchic accepted it gratefully, grunting his appreciation without a single 'thanks'. Sayaka felt herself pout slightly.

"Well, my job here's done. Thanks for your help, um… Kyosuke." It certainly felt strange calling him that, especially if the name was so similar to another Pokemon. Sayaka eyed her arm for a bit, noting that the bleeding had stopped, even though it still hurt like hell. Kyosuke instinctively tilted his head at her statement, before something came to mind.

"Hm, hey, can you form an exploration team with me?"

If she had been drinking or eating something, she would have spat it out in an instant. Sayaka turned her head to Kyosuke so fast that in a cartoon, there would have been a crack. "W-What? I just met you, and now you're recruiting me out of the blue? What the…?"

The Torchic sat up, fingering the gem and keeping it in his fluff of neckfeathers. "Well," he started nonchalantly. "You helped me get my most prized possession back, you're strong, and you seem like you hold a vendetta against these guys. Plus, I've wanted to form an exploration team for a while," Okay, so maybe he just suddenly wanted to make one for revenge, but she didn't need to know that. "But I couldn't find a good partner to come along with me. What say you? Could you join me in an exploration team?"

Sayaka stood shock still, trying to get her bearings together again after his mind-boggling explanation that just appeared out of nowhere. If she joined this exploration team of his – or rather, _make _an exploration team – then her normal life would grab its suitcases and pretty much walk out for a lifetime vacation, at least until she got used to the dangers. She'd have fun with this guy (maybe), make some new friends (maybe), hell, something completely and utterly ridiculous might even happen to her and Kyosuke that she wouldn't believe it had happened and her wish might even come true (maybe). However, if she did make an exploration team with him, she might get hurt, she might get sick, she might be in trouble all the time, she'd definitely be flirting with death, she might always be in danger with no one to rely on except this strange Torchic, and she obviously wouldn't have time to check up on a friend daily.

She didn't realize she had been pondering over this for five minutes, nearing six, and Kyosuke had just about given up. He yawned, stretched his hands, and stood up. "Well, I guess you don't wanna. That's fine, I'll go by myself, shouldn't be too hard… hm, how 'm I gonna get through the rock and ground types though-"

"W-Wait."

Kyosuke was already near the portal in every Mystery Dungeon's end that allowed Pokemon to return to the front of the entrance, when Sayaka stopped him with a shaky protest.

"Um, I'll… go… with you." the Totodile muttered as quietly as possible, so quiet that Kyosuke couldn't understand much of it. However, he did catch on to the general meaning and beamed, which was extremely uncharacteristic of him. He caught himself before the smile spread too wide though, and morphed it into a victorious smirk. "Heh, alright then, Sayaka. Don't hold me back from now on, alright?"

"I should be telling you that," Sayaka shot back. '_What have I gotten myself into again?_'

* * *

**... Hm... average words in a chapter in this story may be a little over 2k. Good enough. SEND IN YOUR CRITICISM, MY BODY IS READY.**

_**Reisu, 5/10/13**_


	2. The Guild

**Chapter Two; already typed out both of them, so I might as well upload both of them as well. Why not. OC Submission form is at the bottom.**

* * *

"So, first we should get ourselves some training in. There's a sorta popular exploration guild not too far from here, and they say it's really good, so maybe we can prepare a bit before signing up?"

Kyosuke raised an eyebrow. "Why'd we need to prepare? Somethin' ya have to do?"

Sayaka flinched. He hit the nail right on the head. "… Yeah."

Luckily for her, the Torchic simply tilted his head slightly, but didn't prompt her to delve further and continued walking on, changing the topic after some time. "Then, I'll-"

"Do you have a place to stay?" Sayaka asked abruptly, surprising Kyosuke by a great amount.

He narrowed his eyes, before shaking his head without any shame whatsoever. "Nope. Homeless, jobless, and proud of it." Sayaka swore his neckfeathers puffed out after he said that.

The Totodile wasted no time. "Then, stay at my place. It's big enough."

Kyosuke stopped walking, and stared at her incredulously. "Really? You're just inviting some random stranger who just happened to be there at the right place and wrong time into your house and leech off your food?" he ranted.

Sayaka shrugged. "Says the Pokemon who just so coincidentally had his prized possession stolen by the same two crooks that got my treasure, helped me out, and asked me to form an exploration team with him." She paused for a minute, sweatdropping when Kyosuke cocked his head to the side again. It seemed to be his rather amusing quirk. "… Honestly, I see nothing wrong with it. It's a bit cheap, but you're already used to it, I think."

The Torchic righted his head. "Oh. … Okay then."

Well, he agreed rather quickly to _that _one. Sayaka pondered about his hesitation for a bit, though.

Sayaka took over the lead this time, although she didn't move from Kyosuke's side, instead pointing out all the twists and turns they had to make while she led him to her home. She figured her parents wouldn't care – her mom was out on a business trip, and her dad was… she didn't finish her thought process. After a while, they reached the exact middle of the forest, where Sayaka's abode was; an apartment complex.

"Really? You live in an _apartment complex_?" Kyosuke asked, not even trying to hide his amusement. Sayaka flushed red and turned to the side, crossing her arms. "I don't have to pay often, and it perfectly suits my tastes. This place is fine with me."

Kyosuke snickered. "I know you said it was cheap, but I didn't think it would be _this _cheap."

Sayaka fumed, and was about to retort with something smart, before something white caught her eye. Immediately, the gears in her brain started spinning once more and she jolted, surprising Kyosuke when she just jumped all of a sudden. "Whoa, you alright there? Heart attack or something?" he asked, with just a tint of concern in his voice.

"I-I-I-I have to go! Here are my keys; it's on the fourth floor, second room from the right!" With that, Sayaka zoomed off, leaving the Torchic behind with the jingling keys in his right hand.

Kyosuke tilted his head.

Meanwhile, the Totodile was running for her life… well, not really, more like running for someone else's life. Something like that.

She stumbled on a tree root, tripped on a rock, cut herself on a branch, fell face first on some grass, but she arrived at the edge of the forest eventually. Just a few hundred meters from the woods was a large and bustling town, filled with Pokemon of all shapes and species. She looked around, as if making sure nobody could see her, and continued running into the town.

Sayaka hadn't bothered to check out what the town looked like, much less the other shops or Pokemon that mingled about, but [I] did. Stands built to look like the previous, more animalistic creatures from the past generation to be specific, Pokemon were everywhere, their respective stand owner cheerily greeting the potential customers that walked around everywhere. In the middle of the town – namely, Treasure Town – was a golden-yellow bridge built over the lake surrounding the entire town, and the workers had been able to build more bridges similar to that one over the other areas where the lake would be annoying to try and cross. Obviously, this didn't mean anything for Sayaka, since she was a water-type, but having to keep jumping from place to place and arrive where she needed to be dripping wet if she didn't use her abilities would be quite annoying.

The Totodile stopped running after some time, managing to reach her destination, which was a multi-storied pure white hospital with the words _Hospital of Saint Joyce _printed in big, blocky, and black letters, contrasting strongly with the white paint that just happened to be all over the entire building. At some other time, Sayaka would have laughed at that, but she paid no mind to the irony and practically _slammed _into the revolving doors, something no normal or abnormal Pokemon would have been able to do. Every Pokemon in the near vicinity immediately turned to look at the hurrying Totodile dashing up the stairs without even bothering to wait for the elevator.

Again, Sayaka ignored the feat she had accomplished without her knowing it and stopped at the ninth floor of the hospital, panting tiredly as she staggered towards the fifth room from the left, the name 'Kyousuke Kamijou' written on the gold plaque next to the door. She hesitated for a moment, and then looked down at the crescent-shaped gem she had been clenching in her hand the entire time nervously. "… Hmph… why 'm I thinking of him…" she muttered, and pushed open the door.

Back with Kyosuke, the Torchic had managed to pick the lock into Sayaka's door since he didn't know which key it needed, and he really didn't want to try the possibly twenty other keys hanging on the small ring. Since he was used to lock-picking, it really didn't take very long at all, and he observed Sayaka's home with some amusement mixed with annoyance.

'_I guess she did say it was cheap… but seriously! I expected something… something… more Sayaka-ish!_' he mentally argued with himself in his mind, but shook his head, thinking he just had problems ever since he thought about making an _exploration team _with _Sayaka_.

The apartment room, where Sayaka lived in, was quite… simple. Okay, not _quite _simple, more like cheap, but only cheap since the Totodile seriously didn't think she would live here for more than two months anyway. The entire living room consisted of a table and three chairs around it, with the light source a flickering light bulb just barely hanging off of the circuits and wires. Not too far from the 'living room' was a futon (surprisingly still intact) with a green flower pattern. Off to the side of the hallway stretching out in front of Kyosuke was a bedroom and two guest rooms, but he couldn't see what was inside right now; what was more important was food. So, he went off to the kitchen, which wasn't too far away from the living room either.

The kitchen was simple. _Extremely _simple. A microwave in one side, two counters squeezed next to each other to just barely fit, and a kitchen table with a sink consisted of almost the entire area of the small kitchen. A fridge stood in the corner close to the door he had come in from, and a rusty toaster sat on top of the table, a few feet away from the microwave. Another table was placed in the center, presumably for preparing food that wouldn't fit on the table containing the sink. A few plates and eating utensils were stacked at the edge of the sink-table, coupled with two pink plastic cups, all washed with what may or may not be Sayaka's own aquatic abilities.

Kyosuke observed all of this with a tilt of his head, and then walked over to the fridge for some food. Needless to say, his eye twitched violently at the fridge's contents, or rather, lack of. He slammed the fridge door close, and stormed back into the living room, which also served as the main room. There, he was met with a tired Sayaka, looking like she just ran a marathon with all her sweat. Undeterred, Kyosuke crossed his arms and glared at the Totodile while she collapsed on one of the chairs. She looked at him quietly before raising an eyebrow questioningly.

"Wha-"

"WHY IS YOUR FRIDGE EMPTY!"

Sayaka didn't take _that _very well. "Gee, sorry I don't have the food to fulfill your weird ass appetite. Now could you please just tell me when is the set timing that we're going to set off to train in that guild I mentioned some time ago?" she asked irritably.

Kyosuke, not expecting this kind of reaction, was taken aback slightly. "… Why? You said you had to do something or whatever?"

The blue-haired Pokemon gritted her teeth. "Oh, I'm done with it, of course."

The Torchic was ecstatic, but he smirked in the outside. "Heh, I didn't know you were so agreeable. Fine, we're going today."

"… wait, WHAT?"

"Oh but first, give me good food."

Sayaka almost stomped her way through Treasure Town, in stark contrast to the casually strolling Kyosuke beside her. "Ugh, _why _do you have to be so… so… so _Kyosuke_?" she grumbled, the statement directed to the Torchic next to her.

Said Torchic simply gave her a tilt of his head and a smirk, a piece of fish-shaped taiyaki dangling off the edge of his mouth lazily, much like the feathers around his waist. "Becosh," He responded without any shame at all, his speech also slightly altered by the food in his mouth. "I'm aweshome!"

The Totodile facepalmed.

"… Anyway… we have to sign ourselves up in the guild for proper exploration training, right?" she asked for confirmation. Kyosuke nodded, the taiyaki bouncing up and down in rhythm. "Then, we're gonna have to think up a team name."

Kyosuke was silent for a while, until he opened the side of his mouth again. "… Team name?"

Sayaka groaned. "Seriously? You ask me to form an exploration team with you and you don't even have a team name yet?"

The Torchic thought about it for a while, before he smirked and shook his head. "Nope."

"Oh, we're screwed. We are _ab_solutely screwed." Sayaka buried her face in her hands. "And to think, we've walked all this way to the guild already but we're not anywhere near alright."

Kyosuke scoffed – although that was hard, seeing as he had the taiyaki in his mouth – and waved his hand to the Pokemon guarding the guild's grand double doors. "Yo! We're here to apply for exploration team training!" he yelled.

The guard, a short Pichu, frowned, but opened the doors for them (with great difficulty, albeit it was amusing for Kyosuke to watch; Sayaka reprimanded him for not helping). The still-depressed Sayaka thanked the little blonde boy and patted his head, while Kyosuke eagerly burst inside the large guild, built to shape an animalistic Wigglytuff.

Pokemon were everywhere; there were several rooms, presumably the dorms for exploration teams with their team names printed on a golden plaque on the doors, and a long hallway in the middle that stretched out as far as the eye could see. At the end were huge double doors, similar to the ones at the entrance. The walls were made out of random minerals – gold, silver, crystal, platinum, pearl, diamond, ruby, sapphire, emerald, and many more – as if someone had just stuck them there randomly. Kyosuke fingered the red gem buried in his neckfeathers instinctively.

"Sheesh, you're impatient," Sayaka muttered, jogging up to stay beside the excited Torchic. She glanced at the walls, and noticed something Kyosuke didn't. "Come on, the poster says new recruits sign up in the mess hall in…" she trailed off, her eyes darting towards the clock, before her sea-blue orbs widened to at least three times their original size. "… In _TWENTY MINUTES! _K-Kyosuke, hurry up or we'd have to stick around for another week!" she yelled over her shoulder, already halfway across the hall leading to the mess hall.

Kyosuke tilted his head, read the poster himself, checked the clock, and bounded after Sayaka immediately in record speed.

* * *

**OCs you can submit are either: exploration team members, outlaws, plot-relevant characters (lolwut?) and other miscellaneous OCs.**

**Name (self explanatory):**

**Species (what kind of pokemon is he/she?):**

**Gender (again, self explanatory):**

**Kind (exploration team member(s), outlaw, plot-relevant, or just another OC?):**

**Team Name (for exploration team members only):**

**Personality (how would he/she react to meeting the protags? something like that):**

**History (why/how he/she came to make an exploration team/be an outlaw/whatever, doesn't need to be stupendously long please):**

**Level(s) and Move(s) (self explanatory, level can be between ****5-20**** for now, maximum of four moves even though you already know that):**

**Strength(s) and Weakness(es) (like what is he/she afraid of or what is he/she good at? that kind of thing):**

**Hobby/ies (self explanatory, maximum of two):**

**Appearance (send in a link of what the pokemon looks like, type in the appearance of that pokemon, or leave it blank if you want to leave it to me):**

**Other (something else I forgot):**

**And I, uh... think that's it. SEE YA.**


	3. The Entering

The mess hall was huge.

That was the first thought that entered the duo's minds as they rushed in through the door.

While the mess hall _was _huge, by no means was it complicated. There was a table that took up the entire space of the hall, and chairs (the specific number, they couldn't tell) were stationed around the table. Shelves, cubbyholes, and cupboards were everywhere near the ceiling, foods and desserts of all kinds messily shoved inside. Hints of Oran Berry juice had been splattered and stained on the ground, right next to a rotten apple core, which Sayaka avoided with a disgusted look on her face. Kyosuke automatically reached for a forgotten Cheri Berry about to topple off the edge of the table, but the Totodile dragged him away and forced him to sit down on a seat next to her.

And then there were the Pokemon.

They were everywhere. Seated around the table waiting for someone to tell them what to do, searching the shelves for something to eat, chatting with each other to pass the time, or simply messing around and making questionable noises underneath the table, the Pokemon were doing almost everything you could possibly think of. One blonde-haired Pikachu tried to start up a conversation with Kyosuke, but her brother pulled her away with a protective glance at the Torchic, his head tilted. He stared at them for a while with a confused look on his face, but gradually got bored and settled his chin on the table.

"Heeey… Sayaka… I'm bored…" he complained.

Sayaka rolled her eyes. "I can see that. Did you finish off all your taiyaki that fast already?" she asked, fingering her sea-blue gem, but making sure it was unseen by anyone except Kyosuke.

Kyosuke blinked obliviously, then brightened and shook his head, digging out one last piece of the fish-shaped confectionary. "One left!" he declared proudly.

Just as the blue-haired Pokemon was about to respond with a snarky statement, the door they had just gone through swung open with an intimidating boom, silencing almost every Pokemon in the hall. A tall woman with a tight yellow dress entered, coughing slightly to get their attention ('_As if she didn't have everyone's attention already,_' Sayaka thought bitterly). She had long blue hair that reached her waist, with the upper left part of her hair shaded black and a musical note clip waving in the wind like a flag. A blue-and-silver ribbon was tied neatly just underneath her neck, and long blue sleeves decorated her slender arms. Five fluttering feathers were attacked at the edge of her dress, three silver and two blue. She wore gray sneakers and the shoes had small blue wings flapping next to them.

The most defining feature about her, of course, was the pair of beautiful yellow wings spread out behind her like a butterfly, with blue dying the tips of the feathers. The vibrant colors mixed and mashed against each other in a dazzling display, leaving most of the male avian Pokemon utterly speechless. Kyosuke, however, seemed completely unimpressed at the Chatot Pokemon's wings and figure.

"Now that I have everyone's attention," she said, her voice unwavering and a slightly melodic tone in it, "I am the second-in-command after the Guildmaster, Cirra. I want everyone striving to become exploration team apprentices to form a line in front of me with their partners next to them. This is a first come first serve." With that, her wings encircled her for a split second, and when they spread out behind her again, a notepad and pen were in her hands.

Immediately, the avian Pokemon mentioned before dashed towards her, their partners just barely able to keep up. Kyosuke and Sayaka moved in a relaxed pace, as if this was no big deal. … Well, Kyosuke moved in a relaxed pace, the Totodile had simply resigned to the fate of moving along with Kyosuke's pace.

"Who does she think she is, a princess?" Kyosuke asked, albeit with little to no contempt in his tone at all. "It's as if she was forced to do this."

Sayaka shrugged. "Well, she _is _the second-in-command. I think she has to follow all the orders the Guildmaster gives anyway."

The 'conversation' was dropped after that, and Kyosuke resumed his slow chewing of the taiyaki in his mouth. Obviously, he desperately wanted to shove it down his throat, but since this was the last piece he had, he'd have to savor the taste before it melted in his mouth. He was deep in his thoughts about the kinds of pocky flavors there were in the world when Sayaka smacked him on the shoulder, yelling something about a team name.

… A team name… team name? Ahh, right, team name…

"-ke! Kyosuke, you moron, give me a team name!" she shouted at the uninterested Torchic, who simply tilted his head confusedly.

Then,

"How 'bout… Red Bean Paste?"

The Totodile was utterly shocked at Kyosuke's stupidity… or rather, lack of listening skills and inability to catch on to what she was seriously talking about. Before Sayaka could make up an excuse to Cirra, the Chatot had already nodded and scribbled down the team 'name' (?) next to the number twelve. "Team Red Bean Paste it is. Your room number is seventy-two, and the dorms are at the far east. You will be staying in there with another exploration team until told otherwise." She explained calmly, although she had a slightly bored tone in her musical voice. Sayaka's mouth was open agape, like a Magikarp out of water, but was dragged away by the smug Kyosuke.

Perhaps it was all according to plan for him?

"_KYOSUKE!_" she hissed angrily, whisper-yelling so as to not attract attention. "_What _do you think you're doing?!"

The Torchic shrugged. "What? You asked for a team name, I gave you a team name. What else do you want?" he replied nonchalantly as if it was no big deal. And technically, it wasn't, but Sayaka obviously thought differently.

Sayaka was about to yell something once more, but caught herself and simply pinched the bridge of her nose tiredly. "Oh for heaven's… fine, do whatever you want," she grumbled, and Kyosuke smirked proudly.

"… In any case, we still have to go and take a look at what our dorms look like, right?" he asked, hands at the back of his head. The Totodile contemplated on whether to answer him or not, but in the end, she was being dragged by Kyosuke once more to the east.

At the east, there was a long hallway. And when I mean long, I mean _long_. Doors were situated on both sides of the hallway, and were separated by at least three meters from the other door, and the doors had a silver plaque with a number printed on it, and below, a list of the exploration teams living in the dorm. Kyosuke and Sayaka wandered around for a bit, simply staring at all the teams that were training in the guild, and when they reached almost halfway through, they decided against getting lost in a straight path and headed for room seventy-two.

(Sayaka felt the overwhelming urge to break the plaque saying 'Team Red Bean Paste'.)

The inside of the dorm was… well, it wasn't huge, because after all this wasn't college or anything, but it was rather large for a homeless Torchic and a Totodile living in an apartment. The ceiling held a single fluorescent lamp, and the main room was linked to the kitchen and the bedrooms were at the side. A dining table took up most of the middle area, and there was a soft black-and-white carpet on the floor. Within minutes, Kyosuke had gone to the kitchen almost immediately and Sayaka was inspecting the bedrooms to pick hers.

There were, apparently, four bedrooms and three beds in each room, which meant one dorm could hold four exploration teams. There was a nightstand next to each bed, and a bookshelf in each room. One room did manage to stand out from the rest, though; it was the last room, and instead of the shelf being empty, it was chock full of books of all kinds. The first book Sayaka picked out turned to be a more serious version of _The Little Mermaid_, and the Totodile swore she would read this in her free time.

Kyosuke, on the other hand, was disappointed that they had arrived here first since the fridge was empty from anything besides an ice tray that was already breaking apart anyway. That was really the only thing he came in the kitchen for, food, but he couldn't resist taking a long glance at the kitchen anyway, even though he was no good with cooking. It was ironically similar to Sayaka's kitchen back at the apartment – just less rustier utensils and more of the plates, bowls, and glasses.

The Torchic sighed and left. No food just meant he'd have to get food… one way or another.

The moment he stepped out, though, he bumped into another, and this one wasn't Sayaka. She had long brown hair that was somewhat similar to a mane at the shoulders. Her brown eyes blinked in confusion, and a bushy brown tail that waved behind her marked the young girl as an Eevee Pokemon. She wore a plain brown tee and tan shorts with pockets bulging with things Kyosuke did not want to know. Her tennis shoes and sunhat also looked slightly worn, but the red scarf around her neck shined.

"Hah…? Oh, hey! Are you that other exploration team we're rooming with?" she asked quickly, and the Torchic had to pause and try to process what she just said before coming up with an answer.

"Uh… yeah, sure," he replied unsurely. "Who're you anyway?"

She crossed her arms, but a little mischievous smile was still on her face. "It's rude to ask for someone's name without telling your own, you know." A glint was suddenly in her eye.

"Pah." He crossed his arms, mirroring her. "Fine, I'm Kyosuke, now tell me yours." With that, he jabbed his pointer finger at the Eevee's forehead.

"I'm Sadie!" she replied proudly. "I'm the leader of Exploration Team Tales! And I take it you're… er, Team Red Bean Paste?"

"I think it's a great name," Kyosuke muttered.

Just then, Sayaka came in with another Pokemon, this one male. He had curly orange hair and sleepy mahogany eyes, looking as if he had just recently awoken. He wore dark red gloves and boots, and he had glasses that glinted in the soft light. Similar to Sadie, he wore a red tee and long red khakis that have a jagged edge of dark red. At his back, he had a backpack and a red scarf was tied around his neck as well. His defining feature was the six red-orange tails curled behind him, the tails all Vulpix have.

"Oh, you've met already?" Sayaka asked. The Vulpix on the other hand, looked somewhat worried.

"… She hasn't done anything to you… er, has she?" he asked nervously. As if on cue, the glint in the Eevee's eyes disappeared instantly.

"Of-Of course not, haha!" she laughed it off. "Why would I ever do such a thi-"

"Excuse me?" the melodic voice came from outside, and the door slowly started to open. "This is Cirra. I'm coming in."

Sadie's eyes went wide, and she quickly ran into the kitchen and made herself as unnoticeable as possible. The Vulpix groaned.

Once the Chatot had stepped foot into the dorm, a bucket of water suddenly crashed on top of the avian Pokemon, and Cirra froze, twitching every now and then. Sensing a dark aura, Sayaka slowly stepped away from the two fire types and retreated to her room, slamming the door shut right before the Chatot snapped.

"_WHO DID THIS?!_"

* * *

After a very, _very _heavy lecture, Sadie and her partner, the Vulpix named Artie, were eventually told to go back to their dorms and when they came back, they had brought a bag with them.

"What's in there?" Kyosuke asked curiously, peering at the yellow shoulderbag Sadie carried in her arms.

The Eevee shrugged. "The Guildmaster didn't say. Although he did say it was necessary for the exploration teams, but since we already have one, he told us to give this to you," she explained.

"We got our Rescue Badges too, although it was only because I had a good argument ready for Cirra. I got the feeling she wanted to kick us out after that anyway." Artie held up the white-winged badge to the light, narrowing his eyes. "… Flashy."

"We'll be given our first mission tomorrow too!" Sadie exclaimed excitedly. "Hehe, I wonder what we're gonna do?"

"Don't get any funny ideas," Artie warned, although it sounded halfhearted.

"Of course not! _You're probably the one gonna help me out, though…_"

"What was that?"

While Sadie and Artie continued their little 'argument' (it wasn't much of an argument than a scolding from a father), Kyosuke accepted the bag from Sadie and tried to guess which room Sayaka had decided to stay in. Needless to say, the Totodile had placed a box of pocky outside the room due to the fact she had already gotten an idea of what Kyosuke's personality was like.

"So a map, a bag, our… Rescue Badges or whatever, and some beginner items," Sayaka listed off as she dug through the contents of the bag. "Oh, wait, what's this…?"

At the bottom of the bag, a small book had apparently been placed there, and the Totodile recognized it as the book she had liked as a child – _Buffy the Crobat Slayer_. She had seen it from one of the bookstores' display shelves, and she had caught sight of the TV series, but she had never really seen it herself. Immediately, Kyosuke reached out for the white book curiously. "An old book? What's it doin' here?" he asked.

Sayaka shrugged, trying to hide her ecstasy with a façade of indifference. "I dunno. Might as well keep it, I guess."

The Torchic stared at the bluenette as Sayaka awkwardly looked away. "… You like _Buffy the Crobat Slayer_? Didn't look the type," he bluntly pointed out, causing the Totodile to flinch.

"S-So what? I never did get to see what it was all about anyway! I-I think it would be interesting…" she trailed off, feeling Kyosuke's stare burn holes in her body. "… For the love of Arceus, stop staring at me."

The rest of the day passed by without much incident, that is, until Kyosuke got drenched in a similar style to Cirra once he walked out the room. Sadie snuck away inconspicuously, and Artie simply pointed out the door as the Torchic readied his flaming fist.

* * *

**Well, after (possibly) one month later, two OCs were accepted. Joy to the world! As for the forms, it really doesn't matter if you put it in a review or a PM, both are fine either way. Thanks, Kyophelia! (Your pen name is the best, by the way.)**

**As (somewhat) stated before, Sadie the Eevee and Artie the Vulpix belong to kyophelia.**

_**Reisu, 5/28/13**_


	4. The First Mission

"Wake up."

"…"

"Waaaaake uuuuuup."

"Mnn, shu' up."

"Wake up mister before I dump another bucket of water over you!"

"Gracious Giratina… I'm up, I'm up!"

Kyosuke slowly (emphasis on slowly) clambered out of bed, Sadie next to him and crossing her arms with a disgruntled look on her face. "You really need to start waking up on your own, you know."

He waved it off. "I'm perfectly capable of waking up by myself."

"Yeah, waking up fifteen minutes _after _the assembly, you mean. If it wasn't for Sayaka, you wouldn't even _be _able to go on our first mission," Sadie said matter-of-factly.

Kyosuke tilted his head. "'Our' first mission?"

"Didn't know? Since we're roommates, we're also kinda like a joint exploration team. If you guys go, we go."

The Torchic stared at her, before burying his face in his hands. Sadie freaked out. "What?! We're not that bad, are we?! I can fight too!"

* * *

While the four of them were lining up to get their first official mission, Sayaka noticed something a bit… off. "How come there were so many yesterday, and now only a few today?" she questioned. It was out of the blue, but she was curious as to why.

"I have another question… why are you carrying that book around with you?" Kyosuke asked, pointing at _The Little Mermaid _book in the Totodile's hands. Sayaka flushed red and hid it behind her immediately.

"J-Just answer my question!"

Artie took to thinking about it quickly. "Hm… well I think they just got lazy, or something."

"… Lazy asses."

Sadie shot Kyosuke a look that said 'maybe you ought to take a double check on _who's _talking'.

Just then, the one managing the line came in their sight, and she looked no older than the rest of them. She was blonde, with twin tails curled like drills, and she wore a yellow dress with a silver ribbon tied around the waist. With her thigh-high black stockings and knee-length yellow bloomers, she was easily identifiable as a Mawile, but the signature black jaws on their heads was nowhere to be found. What replaced it was a brown hat with a white puffy ball and a flower design.

"Hello," she said pleasantly, a smile present on her face, coupled with half-lidded eyes. "I am the one in charge of keeping you beginning exploration teams in line, and I also serve as the dorm mistress. For your mission today, you are in charge of apprehending an outlaw."

Sayaka almost choked on her saliva. She didn't, but she coughed and hacked loudly anyway. "W-What! We're just beginners like you said, how do you think we're going to be able to apprehend an _outlaw_!"

The Mawile's smile didn't even falter. "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll do fine."

"That's not possible!"

Kyosuke clapped his partner's back cheerily, a complete contrast from his previously annoyed mood. "Pff, we'll be fine, like she said! We're going to whoop that idiot's ass!"

Just then, Kyosuke found out where the Mawile's jaws were the hard way.

When a black snake-like creature suddenly clamped its huge mouth around Kyosuke's head, more than a few screams resounded in the room, and the Torchic instinctively shot out a loud and long stream of swear words that would make any sailor look like a timid little girl in comparison. Artie instantly put his fingers in Sadie's ears.

The creature, in detail, did look a bit like a snake that was growing out of the Mawile's head from underneath the hat. It had two wings on its head, one red and the other blue. It had several red-and-blue spots on it, and rows of ridiculously sharp teeth it was a wonder Kyosuke hadn't died yet.

"Charlotte, get back here please. I'm sure the young boy knows his lesson by now." The Mawile smiled. The snake, Charlotte apparently, turned to look at her with the Torchic still flailing around agitatedly in its jaws, before it opened its mouth and returned underneath the brown hat. The Torchic fell smack on the ground, dripping wet with saliva and small puncture wounds where the teeth had stabbed.

"Fuckin' hell! That's one evil little shit you got under that hat of yours!" Kyosuke spat, pointing angrily at the innocent hat. In response, a small pink thing popped out from underneath it once more, scaring the hell out of the poor Torchic. Behind him, Sayaka, Artie, and Sadie watched with amusement visible in their eyes.

"Hey!" it called out accusingly. "I'm not an evil little poop!"

Kyosuke stared at the pink thing, unimpressed. The only visible feature he could spot was that its head was shaped like a candy wrapper, and it didn't seem to be human… er, Pokemon. "So, uh, how many evil little shits do you _really _have under that hat of yours?" he asked with narrowed eyes at the still-smiling Mawile.

"Zero," she responded calmly.

"Zero?"

"Zero."

"…" The Torchic turned away and started to walk to the right, where a board filled with job papers was. The Mawile cocked her head slightly, before she clapped her hands. "Oh, your friend catches on quickly! If you have another job in mind, you may check the bulletin board over there. Once you've managed to find one you like, all you have to do is sign your team leader's name at the bottom of the paper. Did you get all of that?" she explained. The only two who did respond to her lecture were Artie and Sayaka, who nodded attentively. Sadie had gone off to join Kyosuke in job hunting; she'd just let Artie explain everything she had tuned out later on.

"Oh, but you can't accept job requests that are out of your level," the Mawile pointed out once she saw the Eevee reach for a paper with a big, red, and bolded letter 'A'. "Those jobs will be eventually become available to you once your strength has been proven."

"And when's that?" Artie raised an eyebrow.

The Mawile pondered over it for a moment. "Perhaps when the Guildmaster starts showing interest in you. Good luck with that, though, he does not have much patience."

"… In any case, let's just pick something easy for now, right?" Sayaka asked. "We still need to see if we're actually good at fighting with one another…"

Sadie pouted. "Aw, I wanted to fight the outlaw… well, whatever, let's get going!"

* * *

It turned out that yes, they wereactually good at fighting with one another. Except for one, obviously.

Kyosuke, unsurprisingly, worked well by himself. He was nimble, flexible, and was in ease when going solo since he could fight wildly without having to worry about the other teammate/s. He still wasn't capable of using fire magic, even the most basic ones, and Artie had caught the Torchic staring at him enviously more than just a few times whenever he used his Ember attack.

Speaking of, Artie and Sadie were great at teamwork. Since the Mystery Dungeon they had to 'explore' was chock full of water types, it was expected that the Vulpix wouldn't rely very much on his fire moves. But since that was pretty much his only offensive move, he decided relying on the (rather unreliable) Sadie, and performing several amazing strategies and combos on the tough foes they faced. Often, it would consist of the opponent Pokemon screaming like a little girl (unless it actually was a little girl) and ran around in circles until it fainted from the burn inflicted upon him.

Sayaka was like a jack-of-all-trades; she adapted quickly enough to her partners' fighting style and worked well with each of them. If they were on the defensive, like Artie, a quick Scratch their way would send the Pokemon flying or fleeing instantly – however, with someone who tended to go on the offensive actively, like Sadie, a few Leers at the enemy would render them defenseless against the oncoming deadly attack that came soon after. She also rather disliked about how Kyosuke seemed a bit distant from them during battles, but she didn't press.

The mission Sayaka had selected for them (specifically, they argued on which job to pick first, and two certain Pokemon had ended up trying to take a job ranked 'S'; the Totodile was quick to decline harshly and snatch a paper with the 'F' on it since it reminded her of her Math grade during elementary) was to fetch the 'most precious thing I've ever had' for someone named Hitomi something-or-other. Both teams didn't know what the item really was, nor did they care, since they barely even skimmed that part. However, what they didn't know was that the Mystery Dungeon specialized in containing water type Pokemon like The Cave, aggravating Kyosuke and Artie (although Artie was much more capable of keeping it in).

The Torchic, who was hopeless in making friends with anyone other than his mandatory exploration team partner, ended up having to make do with dodging every single attack the enemy Pokemon sent his way. Sayaka, on the other hand, didn't feel the least bit sorry for him.

Along the way, the silence eventually became a bit too deafening for them…

"U-Uh, who was that weird Mawile before anyway? I don't think she mentioned her name, and she has that pink… thing… underneath her hat who's called Charlotte, right?" Sadie asked randomly. Artie, who was only all too happy to break the ice as well, answered for the rest of the group's unasked questions.

"She's called Mami Tomoe, and while she _does _have a controlled temper most of the time, most of that anger goes directly to her head-jaws… which have a tendency to burst out from underneath her hat and bite the Pokemon she doesn't like. It's actually kinda like a split personality, though, which is… yeah, I'm going to relent and say it's weird." Artie finished. Kyosuke thought he said those words like he was reading something from a book.

Sadie coughed. "You sure did your homework on this one…" she coughed again, just to be sure.

As expected, Artie's face heated up. "Na-No! I've heard of her, that's all! A lot of those other exploration teams were talking about her…"

"Personally, I think it's because of her chest/boobs," Both Sayaka and Kyosuke said at the same time, before Sayaka froze and turned to look at the Torchic. "H-Hey! Don't go saying words like that so casually like it's the weather!" she scolded. As usual, he didn't listen.

"I've never heard of a Mawile with jaws like… that, though," Sadie pointed out. "Since when did jaws turn into a huge black spotted snake in the disguise of a pink talking candy thing?"

Artie cradled his chin with his fingers and held his elbow with wrist in a thinking position, complimenting his glasses. "Well… I guess that 'huge black spotted snake in the disguise of a pink talking candy thing' as you so nicely called it is her little pet or something? Or maybe it's there because she's a Mawile who was born without jaws? I have read of those happening in some of the Biology books in school before…"

"Okay, how much did you _really _research about Mawile Pokemon anyway? Are you obsessed with that certain kind or something? … Or is it her chest?" Sadie narrowed her eyes, each question successful in its job of making Artie's face as red as his hair.

Before the Vulpix could say anything else in his defense, however, Kyosuke caught eye of something shining in the light. "Mmhmm? Is that the thing we're supposed t'be lookin' for?" he asked, his legs ready to give out at any moment.

Sayaka sprinted forward to get a closer look, then nodded. "Yeah. The job did say it was a green orb that was shiny. … Or something."

"You actually read it?" Sadie seemed genuinely surprised.

"… And _you _didn't? Actually, wait, I'm not even surprised about that at this point."

Artie sighed, getting ready to try and pry the Eevee off of Sayaka, but like before, he was interrupted by a menacing growl. "… Who's out there?" he asked loudly. Everyone else had stopped moving and breathing altogether and the two females quickly separated and tensed. "Show yourself."

The silence was deafening once more.

And then, before anybody could possibly have anticipated it, a yellow and red blue moved at the speed of sound, pinning the unsuspecting Kyosuke to the damp rock wall. When the afterimages had cleared and everybody's eyes managed to adjust to the sudden movement, they saw that the attacker had been a male – a Pokemon called Chingling, due to their signature red-white braids at the back of his head, small bells tying them together. He had a rather unnerving grin on his face, only making the Torchic more nervous by his greedy black eyes and highly contrasting yellow outfit.

"Aha- Ahaha- Ahahahaha- Ahahahahahahahahaha- _AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! So… it's a widdle birdie dis time… I guess fried chicken isn't too bad every once in a while…_"

A normal Chingling's voice would have a friendly ring to it, a bit like Cirra's melodic tune without the seriousness in it. But this one had the same rough and craggy sound; something like an old man singing death metal and actually being good at it. Everyone in the near vicinity was instantly frozen to the spot, including Kyosuke – never in his life had he ever heard a Chingling speak like this. But he didn't back down; instead, he narrowed his eyes and did something his partners had never seen him do – he swung his right arm and held it out straight to the side in a horizontal line. Nothing happened, however, even when the Torchic clenched his fist or flexed his fingers.

He grew frustrated with it easily. "Arrgh! Why won't it wor-"

And then the Chingling struck.

An absolutely ear-bleeding screech rang out from the Chingling's mouth, managing to make Kyosuke be forced onto the wall and eventually _crash _through it, ending up in a completely different area than where he was. The hole he had made crumbled apart, bringing down the entire wall along with it soon, but the Dungeon was still standing, surprisingly enough. Kyosuke had bruises and a few cuts where some rocks had jabbed their sharp tips into his skin, but other than his ears, he was fine. The same could be (somewhat) said for the other three, too; they seemed relatively unhurt, but Sadie had cringed under the Chingling's Astonish attack.

"_… __Hmph._" Its voice sounded unpleased at the outcome. "_You know, I wasn't going all out, but it does kinda surprise me dat you're still conscious after my Astonish. Most Pokemon would'a gone insane from dat in a matter of seconds._"

This statement didn't exactly help improve the situation. Artie was glad to see that it wasn't another water type, but on the other hand, this Chingling didn't seem to be any normal Pokemon. Sadie and Sayaka were, on the other hand, none too pleased on how he had nearly burst their eardrums off and were determined on making him pay.

Kyosuke… was confused. He continued holding his arm out, gripping his fist tightly and concentrating as much as possible, but still, it didn't seem like anything like his hand bursting into flames or things like that was going to happen soon. "Gah! What the hell's wrong with me?! I could summon it just fine before…!"

Just then, Sayaka crept up from the Chingling from behind and leapt up at him when she was close enough, landing on his head and causing him to topple over on his back, with the Totodile scratching his face all the while. "Take that! That's what you get for making me almost deaf!" she yelled, but she didn't expect the Chingling to growl and for his braids to untie themselves either. They expanded and lengthened, growing not only in size but also in strength; he easily picked Sayaka up from his head and throw her to the ground roughly.

Sadie took this as her opening, rushing forward and smashing into the Chingling straight in his gut once he slowly stood up. He crashed into the wall, sending small pebbles flying here and there, but he wasn't unconscious yet. Snarling in fury, he hopped up and levitated above the ground, before channeling his energy into his palms and sending brown shockwaves to the craggy rock floor, causing the Dungeon to start shaking uncontrollably as he did so. Artie gasped at this; it was Earthquake, and _hell _did his head hurt!

"B-But that's impossible!" he yelled, rushing to Kyosuke's side and helping him up. "A Chingling can't possibly be able to learn Earthquake! I mean, it's… impossible!"

"_Nothing's impossible for me!_" he roared, the ground shaking even harder as if in response to his anger. "_I haven't had a decent meal in days, and I've almost forgotten what a reptile would taste like…!_" Turning to face the mortified Sayaka, he grinned devilishly and wrapped his braids around her midsection again, spinning her around in the air while cackling madly. "_Oh, how I've longed to play with my food again! I'm remembering my joys once more! I suppose I have to thank you for this, don't I? Maybe I'll leave just one of you alive?_"

At the sound of Sayaka's yelp of pain at being smashed onto the ground once more, Kyosuke's eyes opened wide, and he started standing up straight on his own. Artie stared at him in confusion, which rapidly morphed to a look of absolute shock. "No, Kyosuke, get back here! You can't possibly think of fighting on your own against that thing!" he shouted to no avail as the redheaded Torchic zoomed straight past the struggling Sadie and smashing his body against the Chingling.

He screeched, adding further injury to the Eevee's ears, and she let out a pained yowl, collapsing in Artie's arms as she writhed from the sound. "Wh-What? What's wrong?" the Vulpix asked, before regretting it immediately as the ground started shaking once more. However, Kyosuke didn't seem to mind it at all as he continued scratching at the Chingling, who didn't respond to the physical assault and focused his entire attention on his target, who just so happened to fall unconscious. Sayaka's limp body took a nanosecond to register in Kyosuke's 'things I will kill to never see again' part of his brain and he grinded his teeth, stretched out his arm, and did the most unbelievable thing Artie or the Chingling had ever seen.

A spear appeared in his clenched fist.

It was a rather pretty spear, but anyone with eyes could clearly see the dried blood stains on various parts of the tip. It was a segmented spear, with a glittering red ruby jewel at the center of the spearhead, and a white outline. The most prominent part of it was, of course, the wielder. Who was Kyosuke, a homeless Torchic who had absolute zero experience on exploration team jobs.

And he knew exactly what to do with it.

With a battle cry, he rushed straight at the Chingling and plunged the spear's sharp tip in his arm, eliciting a shriek of pain and fury combined. Dropping the unconscious Totodile, the Chingling's braids headed straight for him this time, but he mercilessly cut them off with a single fluid motion of his spear. The Bell Pokemon continued yelling incessantly, annoying the hell out of the already short-on-temper Kyosuke as he speared the Chingling's other arm this time, and the Pokemon couldn't keep up with sheer force any longer; he collapsed on the ground, the only sound coming out of him a low groan.

"Two things," Kyosuke muttered, the spear suddenly disappearing from his hand. "First… you don't hurt Sayaka. Second… don't play with your food."

* * *

Once Artie had retrieved the orb and collected the reward for it, he instantly returned to the dorm he shared with his partner and Kyosuke's team. He wasn't the least bit surprised to see the Torchic sitting by the side of Sayaka's bed, chewing on a pocky stick like nothing had ever happened. The Vulpix knew better, though; the Totodile had been unconscious for at least two hours and Kyosuke hadn't moved from his spot since they had returned. The Torchic cocked his head at the items in Artie's arms, which consisted of a Protein, Zinc, and Iron, as well as all kinds of medicines for all the common illnesses. "… What are those for?"

"You know, it's from Hitomi, our job client," the Vulpix responded patiently. "She rewarded us with two hundred yen and two of each of these." He held up the vitamins for Kyosuke to see.

However, the Torchic didn't seem too pleased with that. "Just two hundred yen for something that made both Aoi and that pesky girl get hurt? Pah! Cheap…"

Artie rolled his eyes at the 'pesky girl' comment. "It was originally two thousand yen, but the guild takes most of the share, so we end up with one zero less. Stop worrying over Sayaka, by the way; when I told Cirra about it, she said she might have just suffered a concussion or something like that. If she'll take some of these," he held up the medicines, "She should be fine in no time."

Kyosuke looked hesitant, but he relented and got up from his seat, snatching the vitamins and medicine quickly. Peeking in, he winced at the huge amount of bottles. "Really? How much money did this cost?" he asked.

"O-Oh, uh, not that big," Artie stammered nervously, waving it off. "Anyway, I'll be going now. Oh, and…" he adapted a small smile a bit like Sadie's. "Did you just call Sayaka, er, Aoi?"

Kyosuke blinked, tilted his head, before his eyes turned into saucer plates and his entire face flared up. "Oh shit! No, no, _no_, I did not say that! Now- Now go and take care of that pesky girl! Shoo, shoo, out of my room!" Pushing the laughing Vulpix out of the room, Kyosuke leaned on the door and sighed tiredly, placing the items Artie had given him on a table. "… Since when did I start calling her Aoi anyway?" he grumbled to himself. "Stupid me…"

* * *

**Soo... no excuses for a slightly late update for this one, but hey, be thankful I had butter-and-syrup filled pancakes. If it wasn't for that, I would be asleep by now. *has woken up way too early on a weekend***

**Is this a semblance of a plot, I sense? ... Actually no, no it's not. Maybe. Who knows? Fufu. **

**Badass Kyosuke belongs to Kurono Yuu, find her on danbooru.**

_**Reisu, 6/01/13**_


	5. The Witch

_The next morning…_

"… Sigh… wake up, moron."

Kyosuke shivered. Cold. It was cold. Why was it cold?

"Oi, Kyo! Wake up!"

'_Alright, alright, just _once_…_'

He blinked his eyes open, and practically jumped out of his seat when he saw ocean blue eyes staring at him so close. Almost _too _close… Kyosuke glared at the Totodile who grinned proudly, crossing her arms. "Feeling better now, are you?" he grumbled.

"Never been better," she replied, and Kyosuke sighed in relief. It didn't look like she had noticed… "Although, I don't think you used the medicine or the vitamins at all from here," she pointed out, looking at the untouched group of bottles at the table. Kyosuke froze. "What exactly did you do this time?"

'_No, no, no, no, no! __She can't, she can't, she can't!_' Struggling to maintain posture, Kyosuke coughed several times. "I… uh… what makes you think I didn't use the medicine? I mean, I almost emptied an entire bottle, you know!"

"The normal Kyosuke would say, 'Some thanks I get, now why don't you go fuck yourself?', you know. Not the Kyosuke with an excuse."

'_OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHI-_'

Sayaka leaned in closer, making them almost nose to nose and staring at Kyosuke with half lidded eyes and a soft grin. "So? What… did you do?"

Before Kyosuke could either come clean or spit out the loudest and longest chain of swear words he had ever said before, the door to their room swung open with a _blam _and Sadie waved from the doorway. "G'moooornin', guys! How're ya do… i… ng…?"

Her voice trailed off and she stared at the duo with her face frozen in a grin, and Kyosuke could have sworn something snapped in her brain. He jerked back from Sayaka in an instant and waved his hands in front of his face, partly to make an excuse and partly because he needed something to hide his red cheeks with. "I-I-I-IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!"

"Huh… what's wrong now?" Artie asked, peeking through and staring confusedly at the flailing Torchic and chuckling Totodile. "… Did something happen while I was away?"

"NO! NO! NOTHING AT ALL!"

* * *

"Tell me what happened, Kyosuke," Artie said sternly. The Torchic stubbornly turned his head away. The Vulpix sighed. "Alright, alright, if you don't want to, then I'll just have to ask Saya-"

That did the trick. "A-Aah! Wait, wait, I'll tell you, I'll tell you, sheesh!"

Artie smirked. After years of being friends with Sadie and having to make up excuses and stories to the others she pranked, this was almost too easy. "Good, now tell me what happened between you and… 'Aoi'."

"I told you not to call her that!" Kyosuke crossed his arms. "Fine, fine. A- Sayaka asked me why she felt so much better 'cause she thought I hadn't used the medicine, which is weird because how would she have gotten better without the medicine anyway? Then the pesky girl walked in, and that's it, happy?"

"I don't think that's the whole thing, judging by your red face."

"Shut up!"

Artie only smirked, aggravating Kyosuke even more. The Torchic took a deep breath and exhaled from his mouth, before pinching the bridge of his nose and looking away.

They had been sent by their other teammates to go get the job for the day ("And don't even try to get a mission with the word _outlaw _on it!" Sayaka had shouted), and they were thoroughly regretting having woken up so late. Well, Kyosuke was, Artie was pushing as much blame on him as possible. The Mawile – Mami, was it? – was at the front again, distributing inane jobs that only the most foolhardy of exploration teams even bothered to accept. Due to that, the job boards were being crowded upon by tons of Pokemon.

"Can we go now?" Kyosuke asked irritably as he stared at the long line in front of them. "'Cause, I mean, even if we did reach that crazy Mawile, we wouldn't be able to get whatever she gives us, right?"

Artie raised an eyebrow. "Says the Pokemon who had been all ready to take on an outlaw last time we were here."

"… It's Sayaka's fault!"

* * *

Eventually, the duo (more of Artie) managed to snatch an easy-looking job and headed back to their dorm, only to hear a loud crash before Kyosuke had even touched the doorknob. Exchanging incredulous looks at each other, they both rushed in instantly, calling their respective partner's names. What they saw… confused them, somewhat.

Sayaka looked like she had been hiding underneath the table, a few chairs upturned around her. She was clutching her head with her hands, shivering violently and murmuring strange words from some kind of different language. In front of her, Sadie was trying to make sense of what had happened while comforting Sayaka at the same time, although that was proving to be a hard job. A few ways away, another Eevee looked taken aback at what was happening, slowly inching backwards every now and then. Kyosuke caught the glint of a chain timepiece around her neck.

Immediately, he rushed over to her and held her up in the air by her shirt, glaring holes in her skull. "What, did, you, do?" he asked, emphasizing each word dangerously.

The Eevee stared back in Kyosuke's eyes, shaking in fear. "H-Huh? I-I mean, I was just, I, um, M-Mami-senpai told me to, um, she told me to check on the e-exploration teams, and then, your, your friend, I d-don't know what happened to her, and I, um, I don't know! I c-came in, and then she just, just, just suddenly got _scared _I think, then um, y-you came in, and, yeah…"

Artie sighed. "Kyosuke, take pity on the poor thing. She looks like she doesn't even know which way is up anymore, seeing as you're pretty much tearing her soul apart with your eyes."

The Torchic didn't spare him a glance, but he clicked his tongue and set the Eevee back down on her shaky legs, before sprinting over to Sayaka. "Oi, oi, what happened to you? You look like you've just seen a ghost."

"Probably did, if she's acting this way," Sadie put in. "I don't know what came over her either. She just suddenly, I don't know, that Eevee girl came in and she got scared out of her wits."

"O-Ok… Ok…" Sayaka seemed to be almost struggling with the words.

"Ok?" Sadie parroted. "What does that mean?"

"Ok… tavia…"

"Oktavia? Who's that?" Artie asked curiously. "She a friend or something?"

"Okt-tavia… she-she's… she's…" Sayaka peered over at the confused Eevee, letting out a yelp of fear. "S… Scary…!"

"Scary?" Kyosuke raised an eyebrow. "Whoever she is, I don't think she's scary enough for you to get _that _nervous. Who, is, she?"

Sayaka didn't say anything else, only curling up into a fetal position and shivering even more, if that was even possible by now. Sadie frowned, crossing her arms. "Weird. I don't think this Oktavia is bad enough for her to be reduced to a mess."

Kyosuke shrugged. "Neither do I. Hey, what's your name? Oktavia?" he directed the last part to the Eevee behind them. She shook her head tentatively.

"N… No. I'm Miyako…"

Kyosuke turned expectantly towards Artie, and the Vulpix sighed. "Probably the only thing Oktavia and Miyako have in common are the letters _o_, _a_, _k_, and _i_. They're also composed of three syllables. Other than that, I can't find any other similarity if I don't know what Oktavia looks like."

"_I'm still here, dearie… whichever world you run to, I'm always going to find you~…_"

The unexpected voice caused Kyosuke and Sadie to instantly spring to their feet in an offensive stance. "Who's there?" the Torchic yelled. "If you're whoever Oktavia is, then I'm going to kick your ass!"

The voice giggled. "_Foolish little boy. Then again, you know that already, don't you? You and little Aoi are such idiots…_"

Well, that did the trick. The Torchic's already short endurance meter snapped and he summoned his spear, surprising Sadie and Miyako while doing so. "Get your shitty ass out here before I fuckin' make you!"

"_Pah. Your language is the same everywhere we meet. I sometimes wonder how you'll be if you're all _the power of love and friendship can overcome all! _or something._" The voice had done a terrible impersonation of Kyosuke's high pitched voice, which is strange, as Kyosuke had been pretty sure he had never used his high pitched voice. "_Anyway, I'll ask nicely this time. Can you _please _lend me Aoi's body even for just a short time? I was lucky, you know, when Miyako-cha~n managed to make Aoi remember._" The Pokemon in the room could almost feel the voice grinning malevolently. "_So? Could you? Just a short time, promise._"

Kyosuke rolled his eyes. "Like I would let you do that," he grumbled.

"_Sorry, I didn't hear you._"

"WHATEVER!" Kyosuke yelled, throwing his arms up in the air. "Just tell me who the hell you are, and maybe, _maybe _I won't kill you! Are you that Oktavia or whatever?"

"_Mhm._" The voice yawned, or made a sound that sounded like a yawn. "_Oh, and, fun fact? My presence is poison for Aoi._"

Sadie instantly swiveled her head towards Sayaka, who looked as if she really _did _have poison in her veins. She was still cowering underneath the table and had her face covered, but the skin on her arms was rapidly turning paler and paler by the second. Her shivering had intensified, and she was sweating terribly. Kyosuke growled, gritting his teeth. "Look, 'Oktavia' or whoever you are, could you pack your bags and get the flying fuck out of here? Sayaka had just gotten better after that shitty excuse of a Chingling, and I do _not _want to h… ahem, force-feed her medicine again."

The voice, or 'Oktavia', giggled. "_Afraid I can't do that, dear. Not until she forgets._"

"F… Forget?" Miyako stammered. "Do you mean it was b-because of… of me? She remembered something because of… me…?"

"_Yup!_" Oktavia responded, strangely upbeat. "_So, unless you leave or she forgets, I'm gonna be riiiight here._" Right after that, a puff of smoke came from a nearby chair, and a strangely dressed tall girl sat in it, looking prim and proper like some sort of princess. Her face and hair was the mirror image of Sayaka, but she had blood red eyes instead of the Totodile's aqua-blue ones. A little gold crown was placed on her head, threatening to fall off with each movement. Her outfit was somewhat like a knight's, with armor and everything. A little pink ribbon was situated on her chest as well, but the strangest thing about her was that instead of legs, she had a sea-green mermaid tail.

However, untrue to her words, Sayaka's shaking suddenly halted to a stop. Her skin slowly started gaining color once more, and she stopped sweating all the sweat she could. Slowly, the bluenette raised her head from her knees, and her arms carefully settled to her side. "W… What…"

"_Oh?_" Oktavia smirked. "_Looks like she forgot, kind of. But I'm still here, so what does this mean, hm?_"

"Please don't tell me we have to cover for her too?" Artie asked, pointing over at the giggling mermaid.

Sadie shrugged. "You do a pretty good job at covering for me. Another one shouldn't be too hard."

"That's what you think…" he mumbled.

"B-But, so, is this my fault?" Miyako asked nervously, backing away. "I-I mean, if so, I'll just go no-"

"No, wait…" Sayaka held out her open palm while steadying herself on the table. "I… I didn't forget. There's… something. One. I remember one." She blinked slightly. "Weren't you… a magical girl before, too?"

Miyako's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "A magical girl? Huh? I… what?"

Sayaka paused, before sighing. "… Right. You… don't remember… never mind, then." She turned her head over to Oktavia sitting on the chair with an expression that looked like she owned the world. "And… and you!" Sayaka pointed accusingly at the mermaid. "You… were my witch, weren't you? You took _every_ advantage available to gain control, _didn't you_?!"

Oktavia smirked. "_Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. This is weird, though, isn't it? I mean, you remembered, although only a bit. But, you remembered, and I'm still here, and that little girl's still here too. So what do you think that means?_"

Kyosuke stared at the conversation in front of him, before groaning and his spear disappeared as he buried his face in his hands. "Can someone just _tell _me what the hell is going on here?"

* * *

"So you're some kinda mermaid witch. Specifically, _her _mermaid witch." Kyosuke pointed at Oktavia first, then Sayaka. "You," Sayaka, "turned into her," Oktavia, "in some other world and I," himself, "somehow saved you and she," Miyako, "was a 'magical girl' in that other world and you," Sayaka, "remembered her," Oktavia, "via her." Miyako. He crossed his arms. "Did I get everything correct?"

Sayaka nodded.

"And you don't remember anything else but that?"

Nod.

"Okay." He sighed, standing up from his chair. "Now, because for some _reason_, this annoying mermaid girl won't go away, she's going to have to stay somewhere near us, unless we want some other exploration team tattling on us. And you," he turned towards Miyako. "You… are going to check on us every once in a while from now on, got it? Oh, and, you're gonna be smartie's understudy."

"Understudy?" Artie raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. You'll need someone to keep some backup excuses for that crazy Mawile, the parrot, and the Guildmaster, don't you?" Kyosuke asked, matter-of-factly. "And she's gonna be that one. So get along and yadda-yadda now. I'm hungry and goddamn if I don't get to eat something." Saying that, he strolled into the kitchen without a care in the world.

The group stared after him, before Sadie stood up as well, hands behind her head. "Yeah, I think I'm gonna follow his example. This ain't really much of my business, so you solve the problem on your own. I'll help out when I can. See ya." She headed off into the kitchen as well, thinking about what kinds of food she can cook this time.

Only Artie, Miyako, Sayaka, and Oktavia remained, and the two latter didn't look too pleased at being in close proximity with each other. Well, Sayaka was, Oktavia looked more amused at the prospect of being able to tease her 'counterpart' every second of the day now.

After a few minutes of simply staring at each other, Miyako finally stood up. "Um… okay, then, I'll be going now. I need to pick a job too, so I guess I'll, um, come every few days, I guess? I don't know…" she fiddled with her chain timepiece nervously. "U-Um, I guess I'll be going now, yeah…" she slowly backed out of the dorm, thinking about how she must have looked like as a magical girl.

Artie shook his head. "In any case, I'll leave you two to decide how to settle your problems with each other. I'm going to go make a list of excuses now, so if you'll 'excuse' me." He lithely walked off towards his and Sadie's room, bringing out a notebook from his backpack while doing so.

Now that Sayaka and Oktavia were alone, they didn't waste a minute rapidly firing questions at each other. The former beat the latter to it with sheer annoyance and speed. "Okay you good for nothing witch, why are you here?! If you did come from the other world, why didn't you stay there?!"

"_Because of Ophelio, duh,_" She responded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "_He and I made a bet, and I lost, so I had to wait for the right time for you to remember about the other world. Luckily, it didn't take long after you met Ophelio's host._" The mermaid sighed. "_You're hopeless, you know that? Even in here, you're still making such a big deal out of your love life. Makes sense if I'm the witch of unrequited love, after all._"

Sayaka flushed a bright red. "W-Who said anything about my love life?! And why the _hell _are you the witch of unrequited love?! That doesn't make sense! If you were my witch, it would fit better if you were like, um, the witch of heroism! The witch of, of bravery! The witch of knights! The witch of-"

"_But I'm not._" Oktavia deadpanned, clearly unimpressed with Sayaka's suggestions. "_Deal with it, dear. I'm the witch of unrequited love; _your _witch._"

Sayaka wanted to punch a wall, or Oktavia's face, whichever broke easier. "Wha-Whatever! I don't care about any of that!"

"_Your face says the exact opposite, dear._"

"Ahh, shut up! First of all, that will be where _you're _staying!" the bluenette pointed over towards the third room from the right, where nobody else was staying at the moment. "Second, there are _rules _in this place, okay? Rule number one, you do not enter other Pokemon's rooms without at least knocking unless I like you, and I obviously don't like you! Rule number two, you do not participate in Sadie's pranks unless you want to get caught, and I do _not _want us to get caught for Arceus's sake! Rule number three, you do not read the books in my room unless I allow you, and no way in Hell am I allowing you to read my books! Got it?!"

"_Would you please stop yelling?_"

"WERE YOU EVEN LISTENING?!"

Oktavia rolled her eyes. "_Heard it all, dear. Quite hard not to, after all._"

Sayaka sighed. "Okay, good. The last thing you need to know is to never, _ever _leave the dorm unless you want to get caught _as well_, and Artie's excuses are not gonna last us for long! You won't get seen by others in this place if you can help it, okay?! It's annoying having to answer a hundred different questions!"

Right at that moment, there was a knock from the door and, without waiting for an answer, the door opened. Sayaka let out a low yet long string of curses as Cirra entered the dorm, looking up for any water buckets, then turning back to look at her. "… Member of Team Red Bean Paste, please come with me." The parrot Pokemon glared at the Totodile as she awkwardly inched towards Cirra. "Hurry up. This is important for your exploration team."

Hearing this, Sayaka was immediately intrigued. She gestured for Oktavia to hide herself, and the mermaid did so, entering the third room quick enough for Cirra not to notice. Sayaka readily followed this time.

Cirra led her towards the main hall, where the job boards were. Mami was at the front as usual, lines of exploration teams waiting. Mami was busy making all sorts of adjustments, meaning her jaws, or Charlotte as it was called, had to help out as well. Papers were pinned on one of the job boards, which looked like it had been cleared for this very purpose, and other exploration team members were writing on the papers, then handing them over to the eternally-smiling Mami.

"You're going to have to sign up for this again," Cirra said, interrupting Sayaka's thoughts. "It's easy enough, though. Simply write your names on a paper and you should be done."

"Done with what?" The Totodile questioned.

"Done with signing up, of course. What else?" the Chatot raised an eyebrow.

"No, I mean, I get that part. But what are we signing up for?" Sayaka felt herself get annoyed, despite her usually calm composure (at least, that's what she thought; Kyosuke would object very strongly to that).

Cirra examined her nails. "For the recruitment of other team members for your team. Haven't you ever thought of that? Your exploration team cannot survive on its own without the help of other members, and not just the other team you're paired up with in the dorm. Someday, you're going to graduate from here, and you won't have their help anymore. So, you're going to have the help of some other Pokemon; specifically, Pokemon who are friendly enough in the dungeons. Signing up allows you the ability to recruit them, as it forges a mark on your exploration badge. Do you understand now?"

Sayaka nodded slowly. "Um. Yeah, I think so."

"Well, here." The Chatot reached over, snatching two pieces of paper from a table and handing them to the Totodile. "Go ahead and sign it for both you and the other team you're rooming with."

Sayaka did just that.

* * *

**3k word special everyone! Managed to get this baby up right before school starts. Ugh, school... *shivers* I'm going to have to do that hellish pattern of wake up early-study-do homework-sleep early all over again. Probably won't have time to work on this one either. But! I'll do what I can to update. Besides, school for me means vacation for others, right? So that's a good thing! :3**

**Anyway... Miyako the Eevee belongs to Redux Gamer! And by the way, thanks for the review! **

_**Reisu, 6/12/13**_


	6. The Violin

"_TEAM TALES!_"

Looking up from her book, Artie sighed once he saw Sadie and Oktavia run in their rooms and giggling like school children. A dripping wet Cirra stood at the doorway, fuming and trying extremely hard not to curse. The Vulpix set the book down and quietly slinked away, trying not to be noticed-

"You!" Maybe he hadn't been all that discreet after all. "These pranks of yours are getting old! What's your excuse this time, hm?"

His response was like rapid fire. "They were bored."

Cirra huffed. "I don't care if your exploration team's only a few days old, I will _not _tolerate this kind of behavior towards your higher ups! What would the Guildmaster say if he saw this?!"

"He would say 'But you used to do those kinds of things too when you were little, Cirra!'."

The Chatot stared at Artie with an unreadable expression, before slowly turning around and walking away, leaving little puddles where she walked. He waited until she was out of sight, before snickering behind his book. "… I didn't know she actually did…"

"Is it safe?" Sayaka's head popped out from the kitchen, looking around for the songbird Pokemon. Seeing none, she gave out a sigh of relief and plopped down on the chair next to Artie, grabbing _The Little Mermaid _and flipped to her page. "Well. I'm… not surprised Oktavia's causing trouble for you already. Sorry about that."

Artie waved it off. "It's fine. I can think of more. By the way, did you take your medicine?"

"What would I need that for? I'm already healed, even though I don't know how."

"Kyosuke said so."

"And I will listen to him… why?"

"Because… he said so? He's worried for you, you know. I think he said something along the lines of 'because I don't want Aoi to remember again'."

"What does the medicine have to do with remembering things?"

"Ask him."

"Mm. And… Aoi? Is that what he calls me now?"

"Don't tell him I told you that and you can pick the next mission."

"Deal!"

"Hey, what're you guys talking about?"

"Kyah!" Jumping up from her seat, Sayaka instinctively hid her book behind her and looked around for the unexpected voice. "Kyosuke, at least tell m-"

_Snap._

"OH ARCEUS!" In seconds, the Totodile had sped inside her room and ran back out, carrying some sort of handbag with her. "Sorryguysgottagobyebye!" she shouted out as she raced down the hallway and out of the guild.

Kyosuke tilted his head, confused for a moment, before he turned to look at Oktavia accusingly. "… You… did something, didn't you?"

"_Whatever gave you that idea?_" she asked innocently. "_It's your fault, anyway. I didn't have anything to do with it… much._"

"Much, my ass." Kyosuke glared at the mermaid. "And what's this about her behavior being my fault? _Whatever gave you that idea?_" he mockingly inquired.

Oktavia snickered. "_Would you like to find out?_"

* * *

"Hm… where is he…" Sayaka looked around the hospital room, tentatively relaxing her shoulders once she saw that he really was nowhere in here. "Strange… he didn't tell me he was going to be discharged soon…"

The hospital room really was devoid of any sort of life except for the Totodile standing at the doorway. The bed was fixed neatly, the machine unplugged and turned off, and the table showed no signs of ever having once contained several notes and clipboards of the patient's status. Sayaka sighed; as if she could get any more tired today. Hold on, didn't she leave Oktavia with Kyosuke and the rest? Oh no.

She didn't feel like hurrying right now, though. Tightening her grip on the handbag, she spun around and exited the room, heading for her one specific destination. Her sudden movement caused the bag's contents to jostle, and the soft clinking made Sayaka flinch ever so slightly. The CDs she had bought from the store had been the last little money she had been able to save… and they were ridiculously expensive, too! She thoroughly regretted having to have bought so many at once…

A voice from the counter at the main hall caught her attention – apparently, the secretary was gossiping with another few doctors and nurses, and they were discussing about the 'newly healed' patient, the one with the hand problem.

The Totodile felt a bit bad for listening in, but she needed to know this. Newly healed? Could it be?

"-Kamijou-san, you mean?"

"Yes! I heard he's just been discharged yesterday. It really was a miracle; it was like it happened over night all of a sudden!"

"I can't believe it!"

"He's such a nice boy, and his violin playing is simply outstanding. I'm glad he can play again after all that time cooped up in the hospital."

Sayaka froze. Violin playing, miracle… at first, she had thought she had misheard the name they had mentioned, but…

Well then. She ran out the hospital and swerved towards the leftmost area, charging towards her destination by pure memory. Whether or not she smashed against more than a few poles is classified information.

After some time, she reached it. The great mansion where her best friend lived; the prodigy violin player, Kyosuke Kamijou.

* * *

Speaking of Kyosuke, the Torchic was currently wandering around Treasure Town in a futile attempt to try and track down the (rather elusive) bluenette. He growled once he reached another dead-end; at this rate, he was never going to find Sayaka! He resisted the compelling urge to punch the wall and instead turned on his heel, then walking away towards another direction. Instead of a road, he was met with… a Spinda.

Rather, a young boy with the ears of a Spinda poking out of his blonde hair. Wearing a dirty yellow shirt and shorts, he spun around excitedly and posed like a little child, emphasizing the red spots on his clothes. "Hey there!" he greeted cheerily. "You lookin' for somethin'?"

"Someone, yeah. What's it to you?" Kyosuke raised an eyebrow.

"Mm." The Spinda stared into the Torchic's eyes intently, causing Kyosuke to be somewhat unnerved by the young boy's unblinking orange eyes. "… Mm! I see! Okay, then, come follow me!" With that, the Spinda bounced off, twirling and spinning as he did so.

Kyosuke hesitated for a bit, before shrugging and jogging after the energetic child. He seemed… trustworthy, maybe, and if he tried to attack him, it was nothing Kyosuke couldn't handle. He would rather not try and summon his spear again, though; every time he did, it always took a lot out of him. He pondered over why this was so until he had bumped into the Spinda, who had abruptly stopped. The boy turned around, saluted with a grin, then bounded off. Kyosuke stared after him for a while, before turning to look at the scene before him.

It was possible he felt a surge of strange guilt when he saw it.

The first thing he saw was the mansion, and that was because it was the tallest and widest thing he had ever seen in his entire fourteen-ish years of his life. He had vaguely remembered passing by the mansion once or twice, but he had never really paid much attention to it, due to the fact that he knew he'd instantly get jealous once he observed it. Surprisingly enough, when he looked at it now, it was just the sea of guilt washing over him that came, not the expected jealousy.

The second thing was the nameplate. It read _Kyosuke Kamijou_, and he understood why Sayaka always hesitated before saying his name; no wonder she much preferred calling him 'you' or something to that variation. Still, he wondered what her connection to this other Kyosuke really was.

Speaking of Sayaka…

She was the third thing, or third Pokemon, if you will. She was curled up in a fetal position with her back towards the brick wall of the mansion, and while her face clearly had tearstains on them, she had a pretty little smile that showed absolutely nothing but happiness. The Torchic wondered why, but pretty soon, his attention was directed to two other thing that came one after the other.

The first was the soft playing of a violin.

The second was the group of two shadows who had just recently arrived.

"Hmm? What's goin' on 'ere? I thought the coward croc' wouldn't come back from the hole she came from!"

* * *

It wasn't like it hadn't happened before. In fact, it had happened lots of times before. But those were just minor. Little things that wouldn't affect the universe's fate.

Little things that didn't concern your friends' lives.

Miyako had a vision. Again. Third time this week. The first time it had happened, she dismissed it with a flick of her wrist and a blink of her eye. The second time made her a bit concerned, but Kyosuke, Sayaka, and Oktavia seemed to be fine.

But the third time was enough.

She burst through the door to their dorm, and wasn't surprised when Sadie nearly fell out of her seat and Artie splashed his tea all over his face. The only one who didn't seem to be deterred at all was Oktavia, who had the proudest smirk she had ever worn right smack dab on her face.

That wasn't a very good sign at all.

"_Guys_!" she nearly shrieked, and her lungs chose that moment to burn out. "Sayaka and Kyosuke… they're… I mean…"

She couldn't finish, but Oktavia took the chance to grin and a dark blue cloak materialized around her neck all of a sudden – with a dramatic flourish, she was enshrouded by the cloth and she disappeared in a glimmer. Sadie stared at the display, dumbstruck and probably wondering why the hell the mermaid hadn't done that before, but Artie flailed around and tried to get the hot tea off his face. As a Vulpix, the heat probably didn't concern him much, but the fact that it was _liquid _probably did.

"Um, um! Guys!" she tried again. "They… Sayaka, and Oktavia, and, and Kyosuke… they're in trouble! Real trouble!"

They have no idea, Miyako thought. But instead of questioning her, Sadie snapped out of her stupor and nodded. She grabbed a towel off the table and hastily wiped Artie's face with it, then grabbed his wrist and sprinted out of the guild. Miyako hesitated – _I'm not strong, it's not worth it, I'll just be a burden to them _– but she went anyway.

She was the only one who knew what would happen, the only one who knew what would happen if Kyosuke let the violin invade his head.

* * *

"Wha-What the-" his sentence was cut short as a powerful jab to his gut sent Kyosuke flying, and the Torchic smashed against the other side of the street. His collision had sent more than a few apples to the ground, and that gave him just about as much of a reason to kill whoever did that. Picking up one of the red fruits off the ground, he chomped down on it and dashed forward, ready to throw the strongest Scratch he had ever done.

He didn't get the chance.

A strong gas of poison flooded his senses and shut down his brain. Kyosuke stumbled backwards, stunned, and the soft sound of the violin playing echoed once more in his head. '_What is this, I don't understand-_' A set of sharp needles tipped with poison flew at him, and the Torchic just barely managed to duck before he was impaled with the sharp objects.

A string was strung. Another peaceful note disrupted his concentration. It sounded so… familiar. What was it? He was dazed, and he didn't even feel one of the needles penetrating his skin and working its poison into his system.

_… __Sleepy…_

_Should sleep… good… sleep is good…_

The violin continued its somber playing, and soon enough, it was the only thing Kyosuke could hear. Not the surprised yelps of the surrounding Pokemon, not the cheers from his opponent – _who were they, even _– he couldn't even hear his own heart beating anymore, just the violin, and only the violin…

_I hear a voice…_

It wasn't the violin. Who is this? Can you hear me? Who… am I?

_It sounds nice… nice and pretty and melodic…_

Sure sounds like a violin, he thought. So nice… should I just sleep, and continue listening to those nice sounds?

_Panic… why… why do you panic… it's so nice here…_

"WAKE UP!"

He did.

Kyosuke's eyes returned to their usual bright red, and he just vaguely remembered he was supposed to be fighting, not dazing off and listening to some weird ass song on the violin. It played, still, but it sounded far away now, like he had snapped out of some kind of hypnotic spell that made the violin seem that much closer. He registered very few things – Sayaka's face was near him, his face was near Sayaka, their noses were almost touching, and-

-and Sayaka was _bleeding _holy shit I'm going to kill whoever did that, his train of thought derailed-

Then the Torchic finally realized what the hell was even going on anymore.

Sadie and Artie were there. They were fending off a bunch of purple-themed Pokemon (if he focused really hard, he could somehow remember the names _Kriemhild _and _Gretchen_), Miyako was desperately clutching her head like she just had some kind of headache, and-

Oktavia.

_She was the one playing the violin the stupid bitch we never should have let her stay goddamn her and her fucking lies she lies she lies she lies the _bitch!

In an instant, his spear was in his right hand and he was charging towards the purple Pokemon and yelling out a battle cry and ignored whatever Sayaka was shouting. Before he could realize what he was doing he had plunged his spear into one of the purple Pokemon's arm (was it Kriemhild…? Or something?) and it was _screaming _in pain – how glorious, he deserves it anyway, for hurting Aoi like that – but then there was a pair of arms wrapped around him.

"Stop… please stop…"

He stopped almost begrudgingly. And then there was the fresh wave of guilt pouring over him and making Kyosuke sink to his knees. He almost wanted to cry. But he couldn't, at least, not in front of a girl. Not in front of _Sayaka_. He didn't even know what had happened, what had caused it; but the purple Pokemon were gone, and the violin didn't sound threatening, and all his anger towards Oktavia was now just a single flicker in the dark.

He didn't even try to stop his dizziness by now. Kyosuke closed his eyes, sighed, and fell asleep, the spear dematerializing. Maybe he shouldn't follow little boys who stare into his eyes in the future…

* * *

Miyako didn't understand.

She held her own, she had helped fight off the Zubat who called herself Gretchen, and she had actually managed to help somewhat. Okay, that was new, but nothing strange.

It was the fact that her vision hadn't come true.

They always did, she told herself. That one time when dad fell down the stairs and I laughed at him from the bottom, it came true. Or that one time when the steak fell down and I caught it just in time, that one came true too.

Why didn't this one?

In all her three visions, Kyosuke had always let the violin get in his head and the poison would finish him off with little effort. In the end, he'd be dead. Sayaka would go stark raving mad, and Oktavia would the one to blame. The two of them, Kriemhild and Gretchen; they'd been acting under orders. They had good hearts deep down. Sadie and Artie had helped the best they can, and both teams would fall apart, leaving the dorm dusty and empty, with the only proof them ever being there would be _The Little Mermaid_ book and its ripped page.

But the future had changed, and Miyako didn't even know how or why. Kyosuke had snapped out of it, but he'd seen Sayaka's injury because the Totodile had protected him. That resulted in him causing a serious injury and possibly breaking Kriemhild's arm in the process, but before he could _kill _the Koffing – Miyako shivered at the thought – Sayaka had somehow, some way, managed to stop him.

How?

Wrapping her arms around his waist and saying _stop _had got him back to his senses. It reminded her, too, when Sadie had once told her that Kyosuke always got nervous when he was in close contact with Sayaka; maybe that was why. Maybe he didn't like people touching him? Could be. Or…

Miyako smiled. Oh. That explained everything. She left the matter alone.

* * *

_I remember now…_

_That beautiful song…_

_I heard it before…_

_A blue haired girl my age, when I was six…_

_She was playing it in her room, and the window was open. I… listened._

_When she finished, someone said it was terrible. Idiot._

_She called it Decretum._

_I call it the most beautiful song I've ever heard._

Before Sayaka went to sleep on her chair, she saw Kyosuke smile ever so slightly.

* * *

**Not the longest of my chapters by ****_far_****, but certainly one of the most emotional and mind screwy. I'm also really bad at not-so-subtle KyoSaya hints, but eh, I'm trying.**

**Now, if anyone can guess what Skuntank's name will be, you get to have a little cookie and moar KyoSaya for the needy!**

_**Reisu, 6/23/13**_


	7. The Dream and The Visitor

Sayaka woke with a start.

She had been having a dream, and although she couldn't remember the details much, she knew it was… frightening. Nightmarish, even. But it wasn't a nightmare; it was a dream. Just a dream. A plain, simple dream.

Though…

She could have sworn she had dreamt of mermaids and candles.

* * *

Kyosuke, on the other hand, didn't wake up in a start. In fact, he didn't wake up at all.

When Sayaka saw his still body on the other bed, her mind instantly steered towards the worst-case scenario, and she flailed around stupidly for a bit. At least until she managed to calm herself down and form proper thoughts did she bother to check his breathing, which was quite fine and stable. He was still smiling, too, albeit only a little.

Oktavia was in their room as well, reading a book. Sayaka was just about ready to punch her face in, but the mermaid witch simply dismissed the Totodile's physical assault with '_it's not good for your health_'. When questioned about yesterday's happenings, she responded truthfully for once.

"_Witch of unrequited love, dear, unrequited love. Playing the violin is a habit for me whenever I sense _Ai_. Besides, you can tell Kyo-Kyo doesn't mind it in the least._"

"… To be honest, he does." Sayaka raised an eyebrow.

"_I was playing _Symposium Magarum _at first, then _Decretum_. He liked that part, so it makes sense, dear._"

"No, no it really doesn't."

Oktavia sighed. "_Look, I don't feel like explaining my entire life story _("I don't want to hear it anyway," Sayaka interrupted, but Oktavia threatened to smack her previous host upright the head if she didn't shut up) _so let's just go along with the short explanation, yes? Okay. My violin, her name's Ariel _("Like the mermaid?" Sayaka didn't hold back her comments) _and the songs she plays… they can cause any mortal's mind to go haywire. Like a moth to the flame, see? Undivided attention, often gives the victim murderous intent, etcetera. But you, Kyo-Kyo, that Eevee… all your fate strings are tangled up everywhere I can't even see where one starts and the other ends, assuming they even do end. You were once part of a great plan of the Incubators, and, well, your fate… didn't exactly end very nice, for you anyway._" Oktavia paused a bit, a light shade of red coloring her face. This was probably the first time Sayaka had seen the mermaid witch display anything else but disdain and morbid amusement.

"… You… met someone?" she prodded.

Oktavia instantly went on the defensive. Snorting, she continued. "_Met someone! Of course, of course, quite, whatever you classy mortals say these days. I met Ophelio, the little bastard, in the witches' afterlife, or… witches' _and _warlocks' afterlife, I don't know and I don't really care. His host was dead, so technically, he was dead, too. He said something about 'not liking how his host's fate had turned out', and kept spouting out plans for which world he wanted to send Kyo-Kyo to. There were possibly a million and one choices, but he decided on this world, thinking nobody else would have the same idea. Ignorant candle he was. Witches are cunning little devils, and besides me, it turned out there was somebody else who thought it would be a fantastic idea to send their host to this dimension, too._ _Anyway, I told you this before, didn't I? He set a bet, and I lost, so I was sent to this world to possess you for a bit. But that didn't work, so I manifested myself in this body. At first, I was planning to not use Ariel, but Ophelio made me, telling me through telepathy that it would be great to exercise my abilities some. Again, such an ignorant candle._"

Sayaka stared mutely at the mermaid witch. After a while, she spoke. "What was the point of all this again?"

"_I got sidetracked, didn't I?_"

"More than that. You didn't even explain what happened yesterday, for Latios' sake."

"_Fine,_" Oktavia mumbled, as if she was some pouting child being scolded by their mother. "_Ariel is deadly for mortals, often making them absolutely batshit insane, as you mortals call it. On those with way too many of their fate strings tied up together, though, the effect is dulled… it becomes just a little strange urge to kill someone. Also…_" Oktavia thought about it for a bit. "_The effect is strengthened when Ariel senses _Ai_. I guess it turned out as usual with Kyo-Kyo, after all. By the way, have you ever met someone named Ai?_"

"I don't think so," Sayaka replied unsurely.

"_You have terrible taste in friends if you've never met her,_" Oktavia muttered, scowling. "_I demand you do right now, and I can do that because Kyo-Kyo's life is in my hands anyway. Come on, follow the leader now._"

Sayaka grumbled something about mermaids being the witch of idiots and begrudgingly followed the strangely excited mermaid towards the outside of the guild.

* * *

Sadie and Artie awoke.

At the same time.

At the same bed.

…

At the same bed?

"GYAH!" Scrambling away, the Eevee desperately tried to find something sturdy enough to throw at Artie's head, without having to break the thing in the process. She was having no such luck, so she decided to go along with the shouting strategy. "Wh-Wh-Why the hell were you in my bed?!"

"Me?! Aren't you the one who was in my bed?!" he yelled indignantly, jumping out of the bed as well. Strangely enough, both of them still had their normal clothes on. "Besides, shouldn't we be worrying more about why we were in each other's bed in the first place?!"

"I'd like to know more why you were in my bed anyway! Gah!"

"I'm telling you, it's _my _bed!"

"But-!"

"_Anyway_," Artie cut in, pinching the bridge of his nose and slowly counting to ten in his head. "Do you remember what happened yesterday?"

"Of course not," came the expected reply.

The Vulpix paused a bit, before continuing. "Well, I do. We were fighting those Poison-types, weren't we? Perhaps we were so tired that we just fell on the bed and went to sleep instantly. It's possible," he added the last part once he saw Sadie's rapidly rising eyebrow.

"Well, whatever you say," Sadie muttered, putting her arms behind her head, a light blush still on her cheeks. "In any case. You… were poisoned a bit, weren't you? Did you take that special Pecha Berry mix?"

Artie pretended to think about it for a while, simply stalling until Sadie finally caught on.

"… You didn't, did you?" Her face was already shadowed. Not a good sign.

The Vulpix hastily grabbed the bottle from its spot on the nightstand, dumping a ton of its contents in his mouth. After a bit of hacking, coughing, and swallowing painfully, he managed to sit upright again and talk normally. "… I did now!"

"… Hmph." Sadie crossed her arms on her chest this time. "Whatever. Anyway, let's go. We still have to pick out our mission for the day after a-"

"Did you just say 'mission'?" Artie asked, an edge to his voice. Sadie recognized his tone and quickly backed away. However, before she could get an excuse in, he continued. "We fought _quite _the hard battle yesterday and I am almost a hundred percent sure you're not in the mood to be fighting in a Mystery Dungeon after that catastrophe. Besides, even if you did, you'd be dead in two minutes in there! For the love of Arceus, you are _staying _in here and you do not get a say in it! And don't let me catch you sneaking out either, or so help me I'll…"

As Artie ranted on with his protective speech, Sadie started to doze off once again.

* * *

_"__Hah, what a freak."_

_"__He doesn't belong in here."_

_"__He fights unfair! Uncool, man."_

_Kyosuke trudged on, tired and very much hurt, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Once again, he had allowed himself to be beat up by the resident evil exploration team (or something to that extent), Team Rose, which consisted of some rose lover named Gertrud and her moustache men, Anthony and Adelbert. He couldn't quite remember when they had come in here, but she had left a rather disconcerting message behind; _'a mermaid will be coming soon. Prepare yourself for the ocean's daughter.'

_He hadn't liked how he was supposed to be facing off against a Water-type. And… soon? That couldn't be good. Plus, he didn't like fighting in the first place. It tired him, and he didn't like summoning his spear. It made others see him as a freak… or something._

**From the deep, deep bed of the sea…**

**I believe you hear my voice, even if I fell down forever.**

_… __What was that?_

_Kyosuke looked around, his frustration overtaken by curiosity. Such a nice voice; where was it coming from? It should be coming from an equally nice Pokemon, right? He wouldn't believe it if it came from some local delinquent or something along those lines._

**Everyone has departed across the sea…**

**Why do I feel comfortable when wandering in this dark cold place?**

_He can… hear it louder now. Just a bit more. Almost there, almost there. From the way it was being sung, he knew it was probably a really pretty girl around his age. Or maybe somewhere eight or nine. He didn't know, nor did he care. He just wanted to find the voice's origin._

**I believe you hear my voice, even if I fell down forever…**

**Dropping my fear, I will make a flower bloom on the bed of the sea, hopefully.**

_Ah! There it was, the source of the pretty voice! It was located in a tall building, and it seemed strange; he was sure the voice was coming from a rather high floor, yet, he could hear the voice just fine. Curious as to why, he clambered up the fire escape and managed to catch a glimpse of the voice's owner – a hint of blue._

**I believe someday I'll be able to accept everything…**

**Even if I had already cried and lost everything.**

_The voice continued with the song. He resisted the urge to cry. Such a nice song, and pretty heartbreaking too! Still, he wasn't that soft. He coughed a bit and struggled to get a better view of the Blue Girl. _

**Everything was born in the sea…**

**Until the day we die and return to the sea, please believe yourself!**

_His foot slipped._

**I believe, even in the dark, your voice casts a ray of hope…**

**Take me away and guide me to some place where I can breathe…**

_Kyosuke felt like screaming, shouting, flailing around uselessly like an animalistic Magikarp out of water, or perhaps summoning his spear and aim it downwards to slow down his fall. But that would drain his energy in normal circumstances, much more when he was plummeting down to his doom from a possibly fifty foot tall building. That wouldn't work. What he could do… was… well, nothing, really._

_Nothing. He was… going to die today. Huh. He didn't see his life flash in front of his life, he didn't feel any sort of adrenaline rush to save his life or stuff like that, just… peace, maybe, glad he got to spend the last few minutes of his life listening to pretty musi-_

_"__GRAB ON!"_

_He did it instinctively. It was a pretty voice, yelling something rather strange. But he did as told; he stretched out his right arm, the one without all the scars, and groped around blindly for whatever he was supposed to hold on to. _

_Kyosuke managed to get his fingers to brush against something. Something warm and soft and smooth. He reached more for it, higher and higher, and he realized it was a hand – a really nice and soft hand, he thought. He gripped it tightly, and it gripped back, and the hand pulled him back up to solid ground. He shook his head and opened his eyes to get a view of his savior-_

He realized he was actually gripping someone's hand. Tightly, too. It was warm, and soft, and nice. Just like what he felt a few seconds ago.

"Wha-Wha-Wha-What are you doing?! Let go of my hand!"

… _Oh_.

"Oh," he repeated stupidly, blinking back the sleepiness in his eyes. "… Oh…"

Was it all a dream? No, it was something more, something… something like a part of his past, a long forgotten memory… he racked his brain for any more of the memories, but he came up with nothing.

They were probably sealed away somewhere, shut tight in a dusty treasure box… who had been the one to find the key and unlock the chest?

* * *

Sayaka couldn't believe it. Oktavia had dragged her around almost the entire town outside the guild to look for someone named Ai, and they had come back with nothing. Oktavia had said she came around when she felt like it, but Sayaka highly doubted that. The mermaid had also said she didn't feel Ai's presence at the moment either, but again, the Totodile didn't believe her.

Then when she had come back and sat down next to the still-sleeping Kyosuke again, he had suddenly grabbed her hand and gripped it tightly with both arms, mumbling some words in his sleep. She contemplated whether to smack him upside the head or flail around once more for about two nanoseconds, before deciding shouting would better.

"Wha-Wha-Wha-What are you doing?! Let go of my hand!"

It… worked, surprisingly. The Torchic's eyes blinked open sleepily, and he sat up to look at his surroundings while his brain started working again. Another confused blink, and soon, he was fully awake.

"Ohh, Sayaka. I didn't see you there," he nonchalantly greeted. "Mornin'."

"You just grabbed my hand in your sleep and all you say is 'morning'?! At least apologize a bit!" she yelled.

He turned his head away. "Don't feel like it."

"Since when did you have to 'feel like it' in order to apologize?!"

Oktavia snickered from her seat on the third bed, the book _The Lost Hero _on her (scaly) lap. "_Having fun so early in the morning. Ophelio's host is so amusing._"

"You shut up over there!" Sayaka responded politely.

A knock came from the door. Followed by another knock. Then a couple of muffled yelps. And then the door was kicked open, nearly knocked off its hinges. The poor thing.

"Sa-Sayaka-chan… there's a strange person here…" the unmistakable timid voice of Miyako came from the doorway as she stared incredulously at the new visitor strolling in the room. "D… Do you know her?"

"_Ahh, Ai. There you are,_" Oktavia said, clearly pleased at the visitor's appearance. "_Care to introduce yourself?_"

Ai was a Pokemon, that was for sure. But at the same time, she… wasn't. She had short brown hair, slightly curly, and dark brown eyes as well. She wore a simple silver one-piece dress with sharp blue frills at the edge, and a fedora with a shining silver feather. Her most prominent feature was the nine silver fox tails flowing gracefully behind her, their tips a pretty azure blue.

"Mm… nice room…" Ai muttered, looking around. That was when Sayaka noticed something – her eyes kept flickering from brown to red, and there was a noticeably sharp canine in her mouth (sharper than usual, at least). "Well. You called me over, didn't you, Oktavia? I'm Ai Nonaka of the Abundant Shrine, pleased to meet you."

Kyosuke tilted his head and stared at her for a moment, before something clicked in his head. "Ah! You were that ridiculously popular singer a few years back, weren't you?" he asked.

Sayaka remained silent for a bit, before she remembered it as well. "Oh, right! Everyone was going gaga over you, calling you 'Aipon' or something like that. I never knew you were actually a shiny Ninetales."

The room's temperature suddenly decreased abruptly.

"… You're a _shiny Ninetales?!_" Miyako screamed.

Ai sighed. "… This is why I don't like accepting invitations anymore unless I'm with Eri."

"Eri!" Miyako repeated. "You mean Eri Kitamura of the Liberty Shrine, the famous _Shoujo-Ai _mangaka and singer?!" Once Ai nodded mutely, Miyako felt the sudden urge to start swooning, but decided on being a novice fangirl. "S-So cool! I didn't know you and Eri were friends! Uwah…~"

"Who is this?" Ai asked slowly, pointing over to the excited Eevee.

"Smartie's understudy," Kyosuke replied.

"And who, may I ask, is 'smartie'?"

"The Vulpix next door."

"I… see." Ai hesitated, before asking the next question. "… Then, what is she the understudy for?"

Another knock on the door, followed by a familiar melodic voice, still slightly annoyed. "Team Red Bean Paste and Team Tales, are you here? A new mission has arrived, and apparently, only you can take it. I'll leave it on the table, so check it later." Without waiting for a reply, the spinning of a heel could be heard and the slamming of a door seconds later.

Oktavia smirked. "_I wonder what it could be?_"

"You know full well what it could be, Oktavia." Ai stared at the mermaid witch, unimpressed. Oktavia looked away, her eyes twinkling mischievously.

"_That reminds me, have you confessed to E-_"

"AHH! Shut up, shut up! Buh-Besides, what would I need to confess for? H-Hmph!" Ai crossed her arms stubbornly, a visible blush on her cheeks. "I'll be leaving now, the-"

"Oh no you don't!" Kyosuke sprang up from his bed and grabbed the Ninetales' dress. "You come here for some reason or another, so you're staying. Plus, you look rich, so could you-"

"DON'T! K… Kyosuke," Sayaka stumbled in her words, "I'll buy you some Umaibou later, okay?! Don't bother our guest, sheesh…"

"You suck too Sayaka."

"Shut up!"

* * *

**So! I have this feeling that the last update and this weren't very far between in the time I didn't update, but I don't care at this point. The song in the dream was ****_Umi no Soko Kara~I Believe _****by KOKIA, also this story's namesake. If you read the Random Trivia Time entry before, you'd know.**

**Anyway! Meet Ai Nonaka of the Abundant Shrine. Fun fact, the only place Ninetales can be found in Black, White, Black 2 & White 2, is in a place called Abundant Shrine. Eri Kitamura, while not yet starring, is of the Liberty Shrine. If anybody can guess what Pokemon KitaEri will be, you get a cookie again! ... Maybe...**

_**Reisu, 6/29/13**_


	8. The Possession

_To Team Red Bean Paste-_

_Meet me at the front gates. Urgent. Please hurry._

_Hitomi_

The job paper was scrawled on ridiculously old parchment it looked like it could crumble any minute. Hitomi had obviously been in a hurry while she wrote this, as most of her letters were crossed out or unintelligible. It was probably only thanks to Artie they had been able to decipher it.

"Who's this Hitomi girl again?" Kyosuke asked, looking bored.

Sayaka sighed exasperatedly. "You know! Our first job client. Real pleasant memories of it though."

Ai blinked confusedly. "She was your first job client, and this is obviously an important mission. You would be the first team she'd run to?"

"Hey, we're good at this kinda thing, you know," Sadie sniffed. "Even if my ears still do hurt every time I visit that place."

"Yeah, and you got knocked out," Artie pointed out matter-of-factly.

"Shh, she doesn't need to know that."

"_I assume you shall accept the mission?_" Oktavia asked sneakily, chewing on a cookie.

Miyako glanced at her nervously, twiddling her thumbs. "Bu-But… if you leave Oktavia here again, she'll… she'll… uh…"

"Then she'll come with us," Kyosuke explained flatly, holding up his pointer finger to look smart. Judging by the way Sayaka smacked him on the head, it didn't work very well.

"We are _not _bringing that mad mermaid with us!" the Totodile shouted, throwing her arms up. "That would be like some sort of suicide trip!"

"_How so?_"

"Because you'd much rather taunt some random wild Pokemon that's really dangerous and make it kill us all then help me breathe."

Oktavia whistled. "_Nice one. You got me. But I'm coming anyway, whether you like it or not._"

Sayaka's, Miyako's, and Artie's eyebrows rose so high they might as well have flown off their faces. "No."

"_Yes._"

"I'll take Ai, but not… not _you_!" Sayaka said 'you' as if Oktavia was some kind of epidemical disease spread throughout the entire world without a cure known to human- er, Pokemonkind.

"Me?" Ai repeated, pointing at herself. "Strange. I think I can say Oktavia is much more competent at fighting than me."

"It's not the fighting ability we're looking for," Artie muttered.

"B-Besides," Miyako stammered, anxious to try and get Oktavia to change her mind. "I, um… know what you're going to do once we get to the Mystery Dungeon anyway."

"_Is that so?_" the mermaid witch smiled so widely her face looked ten times bigger because of it.

Miyako nodded. "Mhm. You're going to… to…" it dawned on her that almost everyone except Kyosuke was staring at her, and her voice dwindled to a barely audible whisper. "… uh…"

"Come on girl. Could give us a little warning before we fall to our deaths," Sadie pleasantly added in with a grin.

"Are you really supposed to be saying that with a smile?" Sayaka asked, unnerved.

"… I… can't say," Miyako murmured, staring at the floor as she thought about all the things – terrible things – that happened when she spoke of the future. "It's… um. It's just a little… a little hypothesis. And it… won't work. Really. It won't."

"Wise choice," Ai mused quietly. "The future is a very delicate thing, child. One little touch or change and everything goes haywire. Sometimes things turn out not to be what you thought they would be."

Kyosuke stared at her. "… You're kinda… you're kinda weird, Ninetales girl."

"Ky_osuke_!" Sayaka yelled, smacking her partner's face again. "Don't be rude to our guest, argh!"

"I say whatever the hell I want, you magical girl from some other world I don't really remember!" the Torchic retorted, rubbing his bruise.

Artie rolled his eyes. "In any case, it appears the whole group shall be coming. How about you, Miyako? Or would you like to prove yourself worthy of being my understudy?"

The Eevee shifted uncomfortably. "I'll take my chances with Cirra, thanks."

"It's settled!" Sadie exclaimed, clapping her hands together in some sort of finalizing decision. "So, everyone besides Miyako will be coming, right?"

Sayaka nodded, glaring at the smirking Oktavia at the corner of her eye.

"Then, let's go! Whatever this mission is, I doubt we won't be able to-"

_Bang._

The sound rang through the entire guild with an endless echo. Sadie's sentence was cut off abruptly, and for good reason too, as it was about to contradict terribly with what they would experience soon. Oktavia sighed, muttered something about mortals being so slow, and snapped her fingers. In an instant, the group appeared at the entrance of the guild, where the young Pichu guard was already freaking out.

"Ahh, an exploration team!" he yelled, running around in circles while holding his head. "I-I heard one of those really loud things my momma told me to avoid! Help, help, help, I don't know what to _do_!" He promptly smacked his head on a tree and fainted.

Ai raised an eyebrow, but before she could make a questioning remark, Miyako moved the guard to his post. "L-Let's just say he fell asleep on the job," she nervously muttered.

"Oh, Team Red Bean Paste, Team Tales, and… your other friends," a melodic voice sounded from behind them. Turning around, the group was met faces to face with Cirra the Chatot. "Your job client seems to be not present at this time," she pointed out, her wings slowing their flaps. It was obvious she had flown from the other open roofed area of the guild. "Do you have any idea on what that noise was?"

"_A gunshot._" Oktavia raised her hand smartly. "_Coming from those tools human mortals use._"

Cirra raised an eyebrow, presumably at the 'mortals' comment, but nodded anyway. "Correct, miss… er, von Seckondorff. Anyway, nobody knows how that lethal weapon could have gotten into this place, but… it seems we will not be able to find out until we go see for ourselves. Come now."

Spreading her wings, Cirra took to the skies and was gone in two blinks of an eye. Ai sighed, her nine silver and blue-tipped tails swaying from side to side gently. "Whatever happens, know that Oktavia came to this world with _full_ knowledge this was going to happen. Blame her, not me… nor Eri." Her tails flicked, and she was engulfed in a blazing blue fire, before disappearing.

The rest of the group turned to Oktavia with glares very present in their eyes. The mermaid witch held up her hands in defense, although her smirk was still visible. "_Yes? Is there something you need?_" she asked innocently.

Sayaka was about to make a sarcastic remark about how the world would give up their lives to hear what else she had to say for herself before the Totodile would rip her to shreds, but Oktavia cut her host off. "_No, no, no need to continue what you are going to say, darling host. That was most definitely a gunshot, and it came from the person you least expected._" She smiled again; not a smirk, a smile. Probably not a genuine, honest-to-goodness smile, but it was one of the rare times the mermaid witch had a smile instead of her ever-present smirk.

The Totodile faltered in her words, about to ask Oktavia exactly what she meant, but another gunshot rang in the air. More exploration teams were gushing out from the guild this time, and even a few of the aquatic type Pokemon were heading towards the direction of Treasure Town. Kyosuke gritted his teeth and grabbed Sayaka's wrist, dragging her off in record speed to the town as well, prompting the rest to do the same. Miyako and Oktavia remained, however, and the Eevee glanced at the mermaid. "… You know what's going to happen, don't you?" she asked, her nervousness gone completely.

Oktavia smiled still. "_Perhaps I do, perhaps I don't. Here's a piece of advice, Mimi; tampering with the future literally cuts off one life line from your body. I don't mean your entire life, as in life_line_, but a life line – several of the things that make a lifeline. It cuts one off, slowly, oh so slowly, until the moment you _die_ because you messed with the future. Sometimes it's best to leave things be, you know._"

"Things don't always go the way I want them to go, I know," Miyako grumbled, clenching her fists, a complete opposite to the stammering wreck she was moments ago. "I don't care if all my life lines or whatever you call them go flying off. If they do, at least I managed to help someone, didn't I?"

"_The last time someone said that, she let despair strangle her until she was no more,_" Oktavia helpfully added. "_Do you really want to follow her footsteps and become something you've never imagined yourself become?_"

"Perhaps I do, perhaps I don't." Miyako glared at the mermaid witch, mimicking her earlier words. "I haven't forgotten everything, you know. I was there when Miki Sayaka transformed into a witch. When Miki Sayaka transformed into _you_."

"_Oh? I played _Decretum_ at that time. Such a lovely song for a lovely event, hmm?_"

Miyako sighed. "To answer your earlier question, no, I don't intend to become a witch as well. Not in this world, at least. I still have a lot of life lines to waste, anyway, so I guess my life isn't going to be a big deal as of now." With that happy thought, she ran over towards Treasure Town, the bustle becoming a huge crowd.

Oktavia stared after the fleeing Eevee, and heaved a great sigh. "_Now I'm not even sure who's the brilliant witch who decided it would be a great idea to bring her host in this world. All these fate strings are being mixed up it makes my head hurt. I suppose I'll contact Ophelio another time, and perhaps ask him about how Yuuki and Chiwa are holding up…_"

* * *

The gunner, as it turned out, was Kyosuke.

… No, not _that _Kyosuke. The other Kyosuke. The violinist. The one Sayaka visits- er, _visited _daily. Yes, that one.

The Totodile stared at the violinist in shock. Kyosuke Kamijou was a very talented Kricketot, with short light gray hair and a black bowtie. He wore red-orange jeans and a cream jacket, with a crimson shirt underneath, but his eyes were an unnervingly bright red. They were usually a friendly shade of gray that would make any rampaging abomination of the earth calm down in nanoseconds, but apparently, today was an exception. Plus the pistol in his hands. You couldn't forget that.

Sadie attempted to say something, maybe yell an insult or ask what in the flaming hell he was doing, but Kamijou wouldn't have responded anyway. The Eevee decided on gripping Artie's wrist so hard she could have sworn she heard his bone crack. She didn't loosen her death clutch, though.

"_Th-The…_" Kamijou rasped, gasping for breath. He didn't get it. "_The Shadows state they will fall when the sun and the moon collide, and darkness will flood the universe-_" he choked on his words, probably on the verge of suffocating by now. Sayaka tried to rush over to him and check on him, but Kyosuke held her back. "_They will die… they will _all _die…_"

He crumpled to the ground in a heap, the pistol clattering to the floor.

In an instant, the town burst into a rumble of chattering and gossiping. "We're all gonna die? No way!" "When the sun and moon collide? Is this guy out of his mind?" "Mommy, he's a scary man." "Wasn't that Kamijou-kun from the hospital? Perhaps they fed him one too many pills?" "Oh dear, there was a gunshot somewhere in here, wasn't there? Did he shoot anybody?"

The last question brought all of the citizens to their senses. The Pokemon didn't have to search for long until they found a groaning Chansey – a nurse from the hospital he had been confined in before. She wore the normal nurse's outfit, complete with the pink curls in her hair. "T-The poor boy was simply… simply overcome by a vengeful spirit. Think… think nothing of this accident," she managed to murmur.

While everyone else was questioning the incident that had just happened, Sayaka was already at Kamijou's side, ready to perform any kind of healing tactic she could think of with her water magic. "Um, uh, should I perform C-CPR of something?" she stuttered, her face going red at the mere thought.

"Hah, no." Kyosuke easily banished the thought from both of their minds. "Bring him back to that hospital he was s'posed to be in; looks like he ain't coming out yet for a long time."

Sayaka seemed miffed at the very idea of bringing him back to the hospital. "How about no, smartie? Kyosuke's been in that place since the beginning of time, and his hand just healed. I don't think he'll be very happy back there again."

"Didn't you hear him?"

The sudden voice made both Pokemon jump. Turning around, they saw their very first job client ever since they had made an exploration team – Hitomi Shizuki. They hadn't spared her more than three glances at first, but now, right there in front of them, her appearance made quite an impact. She was a calm Sunflora Pokemon, what with the yellow sunflower hairpin on her long, wavy green hair, and she wore a simple green sundress with sunny yellow petals at the edges. She wore yellow gloves as well, with a white wristband, but they seemed out of place, considering the heat of the weather at this time.

"Kamijou-kun was possessed," Hitomi explained, her voice sounding much sharper than before. "The Shadows are coming, Miki-san, Sakura-san. They're invading the worlds, now, slowly, but they are looking for a specific kind of targets in particular. These targets are those who have a large amount of fate strings tied up together, as they say those, ahem, 'taste good'. As for my task for you, I'd like it if you'd go to this mountain for me." With that said, Hitomi handed the speechless Sayaka a piece of paper and walked off, disappearing into the crowd.

A moment of silence descended upon the two Pokemon, before the Totodile flared up in rage. "This is the _second _time this day someone mentioned 'fate strings'! What the hell are those, anyway? Why do we apparently have so many of these things we're going to be 'targeted' by these 'Shadows' or whatever?! And how did she know our names in the first place?! I never even told her what my _first _name was!" She obviously wasn't anywhere near finished ranting, but Kyosuke held her back, shushing the bluenette as he gestured towards the Kricketot at their side.

"Hey," he said. "Hospital-guy's waking up."

That managed to give Sayaka enough of a shock to quiet down. The crowd gathered around them as well, murmurs still fleeting back and forth. As Kamijou slowly sat up, rubbing his head as if he just experienced the most serious headache of all time, he opened his mouth and spoke two words.

"What happened?"

The Totodile didn't know if she should have hugged him right then and there, both in relief and fear he would collapse again, but Hitomi (yes, Hitomi) beat her to it. She rushed out of the crowd and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. "Oh, Kamijou-kun! You scared me so much, dear!"

_Dear._ The word rang in Sayaka's head again and again, as if it was constantly mocking her with the word. She stumbled backwards, unbelieving that Hitomi was suddenly being so affectionate with the violinist and thinking Kamijou would just push her away, but to her surprise, the Kricketot simply smiled and patted the Sunflora's head. "Don't worry, Shizuki-san. Whatever happened, I'm alright now."

It was almost like Sayaka's whole world came crashing down on her. She stood up, muttered her 'glad you're okay' phrase, and rushed off to the wild, almost crumpling the piece of paper clutched in her hand. Kyosuke's eyes widened once he saw the direction she had taken, and gestured for Artie and Sadie to follow him as the Torchic sped off after Sayaka. Artie glanced over at Sadie for an answer, but the Eevee was already pulling him towards the other exploration team.

Meanwhile, observing from the very edge of the crowd was Miyako and Ai. The Ninetales opened one flickering eye and her mouth curled downwards slightly. "The Totodile is in danger," she pointed out bluntly.

Miyako nodded, like she knew everything. "Yeah. Oktavia knows that, too. She won't interfere, but I want to change it. I want to change her fate."

"You know what happened last time, Mimi." Miyako blinked; was that her own little nickname now? "You didn't interfere. Well, you did, but only slightly. You barely did anything to change the fate. But it changed by itself, didn't it? You need not do anything this time around. Let them do things their own way."

The Eevee tried to protest, but Ai cut her off. "Your chain timepiece will be the only defense you'll have when the invasion arrives, you know. Always keep it with you, or you'll be Shadow feed." The shiny Ninetales straightened up, stretching a bit. "In any case, I'll be going now to check on Eri. If you need me, I won't be far away."

The same blue fire engulfed her, and she faded away. Miyako stared at the spot where Ai disappeared, hoping against all hope that she would come back and give her all the answers, but nothing happened. The Eevee resisted the urge to run off after the exploration teams and simply pondered on what her vision had told her.

* * *

It was a really fast one, Miyako thought. Almost like the entire vision went by in a sudden flash.

The gunshot came. They ran outside. The one thing that didn't happen there was Miyako and Oktavia's conversation. The same things would happen, with Sayaka being devastated, and she'd unknowingly flee to the mountain Hitomi had told her to go to. Getting lost on the way, she would be attacked by one of the outlaws residing in the mountain and be held ransom, since she appeared rich to the outlaw. Kyosuke and the rest would fail in their mission to save her, and they would be killed.

Killed. Again and again, they kept getting killed in her visions. This was the second time, sure, but who said it wouldn't happen again in the third, fourth, fifth time? She was certain it wouldn't stop, so long as she continued hanging out with them. It was almost disturbing, how the visions she had would include them losing their lives or getting severely injured.

Ai's visiting hadn't been in the vision, however. In fact, Miyako could have sworn she'd never even seen a shiny Ninetales before, and the memory that she was a great singer had just appeared in her mind, as if Ai had purposely planted it there. It was a certified fact Ai and Oktavia weren't normal by any means whatsoever, but they (in Ai's case, at least) seemed more worried about them then themselves. Oktavia was a mermaid witch – a powerful one at that – so it didn't seem that she had to be worried about _anything _at all. Ai, on the other hand, seemed strong enough, but definitely not Oktavia-level strong. The Ninetales seemed to have a powerful connection to Eri Kitamura as well, and constantly worried about her, so perhaps Eri had several fate strings tangled up together as well? But then, if that was the case, who was Eri before she entered the world? Everything seemed so strange and surreal to Miyako at this point she was thoroughly regretting getting herself involved in this series of strange events with the two exploration teams.

There was another problem, too. Oktavia had mentioned an 'Ophelio' once, and it appeared as if Kyosuke had been Ophelio's host. If that was so, did that mean Ophelio would appear in this world as well? Or would he and Oktavia have a bet once more, and the mermaid witch would trick him into making the warlock get stuck in the Pokemon world with her as well? Miyako was getting more confused than ever.

Another thing – and, hopefully, this would be the last – struck her. Before she left, Oktavia said two names; Yuuki and Chiwa. Who were they? Where they like Ai and Eri? She said something about contacting them via Ophelio's resources, but did that mean something serious was about to happen? Judging by the way Oktavia was, it didn't seem like she'd want help from anyone unless she'd really need it. So the invasion of the 'Shadows', as Ai so positively called it, would be a truly dangerous thing to be caught up in the middle of. Miyako would have to be extra careful if she wanted to interfere with others' fates from then on.

The Eevee heaved a great sigh. She wanted to help them so badly, yet she knew it wouldn't change the fact that she was drifting farther and farther away from normal days… and them.

* * *

**Aren't I just wonderful, ending on the happiest note I can think of? Never mind, ignore that, it was poorly made sarcasm.**

**Well! Enter Kamijou, Hitomi, and long paragraphs. The last part with Miyako's rather intellectual thinking was tiring, but well worth the extra 500 or so words. This one's another 3k word special, if you wanna know. On the other hand, and I'm sure you've noticed this, I've ****_bypassed the seventh chapter of doom holy Zeus yes_****! I am one happy duck.**

**(Reviews would be nice, everyone... I'm lonely here...) **

_**Reisu, 7/5/13**_


	9. The Mountain

Sayaka stared at the large expanse of land below her. Standing at the peak of Mount Bristle, she couldn't help but let a few tears escape her eyes. Hitomi had become Kamijou's girlfriend, she knew that. Why? Hitomi had never, not even once, visited him in the hospital while he was injured. Hell, Sayaka had even did something ridiculously dangerous to get the Kricketot's hand better! But…

Why?

"Havin' fun up here, doll?"

The Totodile spun around, her battle instincts flaring up in an instant. While she knew she was still a newbie at this, she had a last resort Kyosuke, Sadie, and Artie hadn't seen, and it would hopefully be useful if ever she had to battle.

Behind her stood a Pokemon, albeit a very strange looking one. He had short, wavy blonde hair, a yellow leather jacket, and brown shorts. He had leather boots for footwear, and his chest was left bare, showing off his abs. One thing was clutched in his fist, however; a curved, horn-like yellow item with ridges on the side. It was obviously an item used by Drowzee Pokemon to eat dreams. He had a rather wicked grin, too – Sayaka found herself wishing the peak had more room to back away.

"Who are you?" was her first question, naturally.

The Drowzee smirked. "Why, just a travelling thief, mind you. Nothing dangerous, not really."

"Not really?" By his second and third sentences, Sayaka wanted to smack him already.

"Look, doll," he continued, ignoring Sayaka's remark. "All I want is to have some fun, see? But I'm cheap. Poor. Not a single coin on me. So all I'm sayin' is that you could sneak in some money for me? Ya're a spoiled little girl, surely yer mom says to help out other Pokemon?"

Sayaka stared blankly at him, unimpressed.

"… Well?" Perhaps his plan was a bit poorly made.

"My mom also said to ignore strangers," she replied bluntly. "Plus, what do you think you're doing, stealing from other people?! It's not right! If you want money, why don't you get a jo-"

_Smack._

"_Ugh, I did everything to sound normal, and this is what I get,_" the Drowzee muttered – or _was _it a Drowzee anymore? His voice was deeper, more gravelly, like the Chingling from their very first mission or Kamijou while he was 'possessed'. His palm had struck Sayaka's face and unexpectedly sent her skidding across the mountain peak, rocks crumbling down and never reaching the bottom while she did so. "_I honestly don't understand Pokemon anymore these days. They sound so self-righteous and idiotic while they're doing the exact opposite. So rude._"

"Wh-Wha…?" Sayaka unsteadily rose to her feet, holding her hand to the bruise on her cheek. "What happened to you?"

"_Everything._" The Drowzee scoffed. "_Seriously now, I just want money for food. I try to be a vegetarian and you mess everything up._"

The Totodile's sense of justice flared. "But! You could get a job, like I told yo-"

_Blam._

The Drowzee unleashed a strange psychic energy that sent her even nearer towards the edge, and she momentarily freaked out while struggling to maintain her composure. "_Doll, Shadows aren't allowed to have jobs. How stupid can you get? The manager would fire me in an instant if he knew._"

Sayaka growled. "Then find a way that doesn't involve stealing!"

With a flick of her wrist, she sent a wave of water towards the Drowzee, but he simply deflected it with a psychic barrier. The water dissipated in an instant. Clucking disapprovingly, the Drowzee neared the shocked Sayaka with threatening eyes. "_Weak. I've fought others ten times better than that. Now are you going to give me your money or not?_"

Despite her emotions going absolutely haywire, Sayaka returned the glare shakily. "N… No. Of course not."

"_Alright then. I'll just have to do this the hard way._"

She screamed.

* * *

"SAYAK- owowowow. Ahem, SAYAKAAAA!"

Panting, Artie managed to catch up towards the speeding Torchic. "Kyo… suke…" he said, trying to get some words between breaths. "Saya… Sayaka's… she's probably at… at the peak by this point. Don't… waste your breath. S-Stop for a while and… and rest, ugh…"

Gripping his spear tightly, Kyosuke knew he had to stop for a bit and rest up. Heal his injuries, lick his wounds, whatever. But a small, nagging voice at the back of his mind refused to let up, telling him that if he did stay and take a breather, it'd be too late. So many wanted posters have been showing up at the boards lately, and all the outlaws reported were last seen in this very mountain. He couldn't relax while Sayaka may be in danger…

His spear disappeared in a dim flash of red light. He collapsed to his knees, panting tiredly. His eyes were already starting to close, and all the adrenaline he once had left him in a flick of the wrist. He doubted he could even lift a finger by this point. He could hear Artie sighing and Sadie bringing out the first aid kit from the Vulpix's backpack already…

'_No!_' the voice told him. '_You aren't supposed to be resting! Get up and help Sayaka! She might be in danger! Really bad danger!_'

Of course, the rest of his body yelled '_no fuckin' way, bitch_' at the voice.

"Gracious Giratina, Kyosuke," Sadie's voice (or what he supposed was Sadie's voice) echoed in his ear. "How many cuts did you get from this place? Arceus, we aren't even supposed to be here in the first place…"

"Sadie!" Artie's voice called out. "The bandages, please. I ran out."

"Already?!"

The Torchic kept thinking. Fire. He needed fire, didn't he? Even after all those years of fighting on the streets, he still didn't know how to conjure up his natural element. How embarrassing. In any case, he always did need to rely on his nails and spear for fighting, but what if it was a Pokemon with a Poison Point ability? That… would not be a very favorable experience, to be honest. Sure, his spear could be used for both close and long range attacks, but he preferred using it when he had to deal with strong enemies or lots of opponents.

So then. Fire. He needed to learn how to control that kind of thing. Even when he was really, _really_ mad, the fire wouldn't react. It never did, anyway. So he'd probably have to turn to Artie for that kind of tutoring; but how would he say it? He had his pride to keep, after all, so perhaps he should just watch how the Vulpix did it.

… No, that wouldn't work. He did watch Artie's Ember attacks from time to time, but all he noticed was that the Vulpix would concentrate and form a fireball in his hands, then launch it at whoever he was fighting. No words of incantation or anything, just… that. He tried that when there wasn't anyone in their dorm once, when he decided to just lounge around while the rest went off to help out someone who lost their item.

Of course, it hadn't worked. All he managed to do was lose his temper and patience waiting for the fireball to conjure.

So he decided. Once he saved Sayaka from whatever danger there might be, he'd start on training himself to conjure some fire. He definitely would do that. He'd get his own little happy ending.

And then a scream.

A scream that sounded unnervingly like Sayaka's echoed in his ears.

The Torchic stood back up with amazing speed, ignored Artie's yelp and Sadie's undignified squeak, and rushed towards the peak. In less than ten minutes, he was there, and he was absolutely mortified at what he was seeing.

A Drowzee (or what he thought was a Drowzee) was there, binding Sayaka's wrists and legs with a purplish psychic rope (psychic bondage, he momentarily thought, before mentally kicking himself) and nearing the Totodile. He was about to rush forward, but instead, Sayaka's hand glowed and a _sword _(a cutlass, the rational part of his brain told him) appeared in her hand, and she cut the psychic ropes off like they were nothing.

The Drowzee was surprised. Of course he was surprised, even Kyosuke himself was surprised.

Sayaka rushed forward and slashed at the Drowzee's arm, causing him to shriek inpokemonly. Kyosuke recognized that kind of voice; rough, gravelly, the same voice Kamijou and the Chingling had made. Sayaka was panting tiredly and looked like she may collapse any minute, but Kyosuke wasn't any better, either. He couldn't even summon his spear, much less fight with it.

He tried. It didn't work. Easy, he'd just do this, then.

With another burst of speed, his nails lengthened and sharpened before they cut a clean wound on the Drowzee's skin. It screeched again, before retaliating with a psychic energy sent directly to the brain. It successfully gave Kyosuke a splitting headache out of nowhere and the Torchic backed away quickly, clutching his head with both hands.

Sayaka, noticing this, took another deep breath and swung her sword towards the bleeding wound and managed to cause more blood to spurt out. The Drowzee hissed and unleashed another blast of energy, flinging Sayaka straight off the mountain peak.

"SAYAKA!" Rushing towards the edge of the peak, Kyosuke stretched out his arm and tried to grab the bluenette's hand, and she gripped the hand tightly like it was the only thing keeping her alive… which was true, in some way.

Now, while Sayaka wasn't afraid of heights, she _was _afraid of being smashed to a bloody pulp on the ground due to the high difference between the ground and the peak. She struggled to keep her grip on Kyosuke's hand, and she was starting to regret ever having rushed up here all by herself.

"I-If you fall," Kyosuke stammered. "I'll… I'll fall with you…"

The two were just about ready to plummet to their deaths when a flaming typhoon encircled them. Sayaka screamed and tightened her hold on the Torchic's hand, nearly breaking every single bone in there, but the flames didn't even singe them. The fire wrapped around the duo protectively and carried them back on the peak without a single burn. Dissipating into smoke, the fire typhoon was no more.

The Drowzee, on the other hand, had several burns and bruises. Each and every single one of them was caused by Artie and Sadie respectively. The latter was crossing her arms on her chest proudly, then winced as the Vulpix dabbed some alcohol on the cut on her cheek. Blame it on the Drowzee's surprisingly sharp nails.

"I-I…" Sayaka stuttered, unable to form a coherent sentence. "Um… wow. Thanks, I… I guess."

"Thanks?" Artie looked up, the slightest of smiles on his face. "If you're wondering about the fires, that wasn't me."

"Then who-" the Totodile turned to look towards Kyosuke, who was staring at his own hands, in turn. "… You… did that? But I thought…"

The Torchic didn't look like he believed it either, but he flicked his wrist. Instead of his spear, a fireball magically conjured above his palm. Widening his eyes, a grin broke on his face as he decided some serious training was going to happen later.

* * *

"Good one, Eri." Ai smiled slightly. Next to her, a figure clad in a yellow-and-black-striped vest grinned in response. She had shoulder length red gold hair with black streaks, and a pair of tiger-like ears poked up from her messy hair. A pleated dandelion skirt with (yet again) black zigzag stripes and gold boots adorned the lower part of her body. Snapping her fingers, cream gloves appeared, clothing her hands, and a burst of fire suddenly zoomed up towards the mountain peak. A fluffy cream tail wagged behind her, identifying Eri as a shiny Arcanine.

"'Twas nothing," she replied nonchalantly, playing with a fireball. "I just helped out a bit, is all. The little guy's gonna have to train himself if he wants that fire to be actually helpful."

"Still, though," Ai continued, frowning a bit now. "I can't believe you came all the way from the afterlife to here just to help me out. If you didn't want to, you could have just said so."

Eri scoffed. "Bah! Of course I wanted to help. If it was somebody else like, say, Oktavia-"

Ai winced.

"-then I wouldn't have come. But it's you!" she flashed a toothy grin at the Ninetales, showing her fangs. "Of course I'd have helped you!"

The Ninetales stared at her friend, trying to process what she had just said, before her face flushed a deep crimson. Did she just-

"Ah." Eri dug out her cellphone. Ai heaved a sigh of relief. "Ohh, Yui! How're you doing?"

'_… __Ah…_'

"Eh? Something going on in the _ToraDora _universe? I'll get to you right away!" Snapping her phone shut, Eri stuffed it in her pocket while giving Ai a sheepish grin. "Sorry, Ai. Got a little something to do in the other worlds." Noticing Ai's disappointed look, Eri hurried to say something else, when an idea popped in her head. "Hey! What say you and I have a duet together when I get back? It'll be great!"

That did it. Ai's ears perked up and all nine of her blue-tipped tails waved in excitement. "R-Really? Alright, then! It's my turn to write the lyrics, isn't it?"

"Mhm!" Eri nodded enthusiastically. "I'll get Wowaka to help out, too! You can look forward to that guy's composing!"

* * *

Meanwhile, while everything else was happening and everyone was having their own little happy ending, Miyako and Oktavia observed.

"Um." The Eevee paused for a bit. "Did you know this was going to happen, or did you control their fate strings a bit?"

"_A bit of both, to be honest,_" Oktavia replied coolly. "_Originally, there was supposed to be something like Aoi falling off the mountain or Akai dying against the Shadow. But if that happened, then I wouldn't have any of my fun anymore, would I? Being with these peo- Pokemon has been the most fun I've ever had for a long time, just being with Ophelio and Candeloro. So… I helped out. Just the tiniest bit._" The mermaid thought about it for a while more. "_Oh, and… I owed Ai a favor. I'll be looking forward to the song they'll make. It should be out a few days from now._" With that, her navy blue cape appeared once again and she disappeared.

Miyako sat there in Oktavia's room, feeling relieved that nothing too bad had happened. Looking out, she smiled once she saw Team Tales dragging Team Red Bean Paste towards the guild doors. The Pichu guard had spontaneously recovered and was now scolding them for hitting him. Sadie was about to point out he had been the one to hit himself but Artie simply apologized and convinced the Eevee to get back in their dorms before Cirra found out they had wandered into a mountain only for teams at least ranked two times higher than their current rank.

Miyako's line of sight soon came to a poster in her hands – a poster that said, '_Welcome, one and all! Come to the newly built Spiral's Café; where hopes and dreams come alive!_'

Interesting. Perhaps she could convince them to check out this new café… tomorrow, or the day after that, possibly.

* * *

**Whoop. Late update, sorry about that. I'm just starting to read the Percy Jackson series, so I was a bit preoccupied. (Percabeth~)**

**Anyway. OH GOD I'M ALMOST AT THE DOUBLE DIGITS. For chapters, anyway. Not reviews. No one reviews or reads this anymore. -cries- But whatever. Um, 2k words this time, which is shorter than short. Sorry. Again. God, I'm not in the mood for this, I'm supposed to be watching Toaru Kagaku no Railgun, you know...**

**Oh, and if you got the 'afterlife' reference, I love you forever.**

_**Reisu, 7/14/13**_


	10. The Explanation

Sayaka waited.

Today was the day Miyako had told them she'd take the two exploration teams to some sort of café, since they didn't have any missions scheduled. She had woken up a bit too early (she had almost choked on her own saliva when she saw it was still three in the morning), but the Eevee _had _said the café would be handing out souvenirs for the first hundred people who came once they opened up. Leave it to the bluenette to get excited.

Kyosuke, of course, was still sleeping peacefully on his bed. Since Sayaka didn't have anything else to do, she pulled up a chair and sat down on it, situated next to the Torchic's bed. She felt a bit weird, like some kind of stalker, but Kyosuke's instincts seemed to have dulled somewhat. He didn't even twitch when the Totodile poked his cheek.

"**_Oh, good morning!_**" a cheery voice that sounded unnervingly like Oktavia echoed in her head. Sayaka jumped, almost hitting her head on the nightstand, before glancing around and generally thinking of a lot of swear words. "**_Oh, don't be so vulgar. This is just telepathy, dear; Ai helped me out on this one,_**" the voice – Oktavia – said again. "**_Now, I believe you're up a bit too early today. Would you like some girl-to-girl talk?_**"

"**_Not from you,_**" Sayaka grumbled in her head, probably spewing out a few choice words along with it as well. "**_What do you want, anyway? You're annoying._**"

A fake gasp echoed in Sayaka's head. "**_Why, I take offense to that! Anyway, I don't care if you don't want my advice, but I would just like to say I spent a great deal of time planning out everything so that your travel would be perfect. At least be thankful._**"

"**_Whatever you're talking about makes absolutely no sense to me._**" Sayaka scowled. "**_I have practically zero reason to be _****thankful ****_to you!_**" the Totodile said (thought?) 'thankful' as if it was the worst word in the world.

Oktavia scoffed mentally. "**_Piffle. That's what you think. If you want an explanation about everything, now's probably the best time to give it._**"

"**_Oh no, please. I _****want ****_to continue being absolutely clueless about everything while you and Hitomi ramble on about fate strings and all that useless crap._**" Sayaka rolled her eyes, which only emphasized the sarcasm in her mental voice.

Oktavia sighed. "**_No need to give me an overdose of sarcasm, dear. Firstly, let's start with questions. Oh, questions, questions. Anything you'd like answered?_**"

"**_Yes._**" Sayaka spoke with so much force it sounded like a thunderstorm or a god speaking. "**_I'd like to know why I should be thankful to you. It sounds horribly out-of-place, witch._**"

"**_Okay!_**" Oktavia's upbeat voice sounded foreign in Sayaka's mental ears. "**_First of all, in the other world, you died._**"

For Sayaka, that wasn't surprising, actually. "**_Well, sorta. You died cause you let despair get to you. I took the chance to gain control over your body, and so, you turned into me, the mermaid witch of unrequited love._**"

The bluenette winced. Kyosuke mumbled something under his breath and shifted in his sleep.

"**_Then Kyosuke comes along like your knight in shining armor or whatever fantasies you have, and he kills you, along with himself, so that you wouldn't be alone in death. See, darling? Even in a situation like this, he's thinking of your well-being. Confess your undying love for him or something already._**"

"**_I've known him for like, what, a week? Two? I don't remember, and I don't really care either,_**" Sayaka muttered. She was blushing terribly in the outside, though, and she was glad the mermaid witch couldn't see her.

Oktavia snickered. "**_Mhm, right. In any case, both I and Ophelio – Kyosuke's warlock – ended up in the afterlife, along with another one of your friend's warlock, Candeloro. Ophelio was quite impatient about everything and demanded that his host be sent to another world. 'Get a second chance at life' or something like that. Well, after months upon months upon months, he managed to find a way to send his host to this world, where everything was peaceful and everyone had a happy ending. He convinced me to send you here, too, but I imagine many other hosts are here too. This world is a tourist attraction for Dimension Travelers, you see._**"

As soon as Oktavia ended, Sayaka already had another question in mind. "**_Right, then. What are these… Dimension Travelers or whatever? Do they travel from world to world or something?_**"

The Totodile could imagine Oktavia clapping her hands delightfully. "**_You catch on fast! Yes, indeed, they do travel from world to world. Many of them adapt to their universe by using Adaptation spells and Memory Implantation. Do you read the _****Percy Jackson & the Olympians ****_series? Memory Implantation spells is like a powerful kind of Mist. It's usually an unconscious act by veteran Dimension Travelers, but newbies have to practice it with young children first before they can use it to its full potential. As another bit of trivia, Ai and her 'friend', Eri, are Dimension Travelers themselves. They really are great singers and make amazing songs when they cooperate, as well as manga. Eri's great at that kind of thing._**" She paused for a moment. "**_Anyway, they also have the ability to see fate strings, life lines, and all that other stuff. Some Dimension Travelers get this thing called Visions, which are sort of hypotheses where it predicts the future. There are many, _****many****_ sorts of endings, of course, but those are some of the most likely ones. You've survived a plenty good amount of negative Visions yourself._**" The witch sounded almost proud.

"**_I… uh. I see._**" Sayaka hesitated, before asking the next question. "**_What are Shadows, then? This whole thing about the Shadow Invasion and stuff; what's it all about?_**"

The mermaid witch's telepathy suddenly became muddled. Too many thoughts were flowing in abruptly, and Sayaka physically recoiled at the mental pain. It stopped as quickly as it had come, though, and the Totodile straightened her posture once more. Quietly, she asked, "**_… uh… Oktavia? You still there?_**"

"**_Fine,_**" came the grumpy response. "**_But I just sensed a Shadow Stream. Not good. There've been too many appearances lately. If the Invasion really does come, then Ophelio is going to be terribly disappointed…_**"

"**_Witch, what are you mumbling about?_**" Sayaka prodded. "**_What's this about a Shadow Stream or something? Is there something else I should know about?_**"

"**_I'm explaining, I'm explaining,_**" the witch reassured. "**_See here, darling, Shadows are remnants of deceased Dimension Travelers. Those folks' souls don't have an afterlife, see, since they're atheists, people who don't believe in one god because of all the worlds they travel to. Believing in one god and one god alone – or at least a group of gods belonging to the same mythology – is the same as binding yourself to that world. Dimension Travelers can't afford to stay in one world for too long; they have different kinds of duties that even the great me can't comprehend very well. Anyway, Shadows are dangerous things; they possess beings in the world they last inhabited, and wreak havoc on the world. Their very existence is a crime, actually. So, a Shadow Invasion is obviously when Shadows migrate to one specific world – this world, for now – and slowly but surely overtake it. A world taken over by Shadows is most displeasing, since that basically wipes the world from the Literal World Map. And that also means one less world Dimension Travelers can do their jobs on, which isn't exactly nice. Dimension Travelers do their work because they have to, although sometimes they actually do like the job they're given. They sometimes mess with fate, since they have different kinds of life lines than regular mortals, and maybe even love lives. Their most important job, overall, is exterminating Shadows. The food pyramid goes this way: Mortals eat mortal food. Shadows eat Mortals. And Dimension Travelers eat Shadows. If Dimension Travelers don't do their job correctly, they'll turn into Shadows themselves – deceased or not._**"

Sayaka was speechless for a moment. After Oktavia's grand explanation, she doubted she could ask anymore of her countless questions. Swallowing her hesitation, the bluenette continued. "**_I get it. Um… what's this about fate strings and life lines, then? You said it all the time before, if I could recall._**"

Oktavia shrugged mentally. "**_Did I? I don't remember it. But I suppose I'll humor you. To start with, a regular mortal has very few fate strings, because these fate strings are what ties you to a certain kind of destiny. Dimension Travelers and irregulars, like you and Kyosuke, have many fate strings tangled up together because of the many worlds you've experienced. Shadows target those who have a lot of their fate strings tied up, because they apparently taste better that way._**"

Sayaka made a disgusted noise. Kyosuke twitched slightly and turned away.

"**_Life lines, on the other hand, are exactly what they are. Life lines are the strings that connect all your experiences, past, present, and future, together and form one lifeline. This lifeline can be either long or short, depending on what your fate strings have decided for you. Normally, the more fate strings you have, the shorter you'll live. They usually die in their teen stages. You… You're thirteen, aren't you? And yet you're still breathing. How surprising. Although, it's probably just because of me being your loyal guardian witch. That's another reason you should thank me._**"

Sayaka made yet another disgusted noise. Kyosuke didn't even notice it.

"**_Um, that's about it, I guess. Anything else?_**"

The Totodile had so many more questions – like what was in store for her and just how many knots there were in her jumbled-up fate strings – but she didn't want to know that right now. She was really just searching for something to have fun with. Pokemon like Kyosuke, Sadie, Artie, Miyako… they were all what she could call _friends_.

And she'd never even had any friends. Besides Kamijou, who she viewed more as a love interest than a friend. And now even he was gone with someone he probably barely even knew. That had left a sizeable hole in her heart. But Kyosuke and the rest… they… cared for her… in a way. They fixed her back up to good health, good as new.

She didn't deserve such great friends. She hadn't even done anything remarkable. In fact, if she remembered right, the only things she was good at were memorizing songs and playing a bit of the violin. And both of those were because she thought Kamijou would be impressed by her.

Turns out she had made all those visits to the hospital for nothing after all.

"**_Aoi?_**"

The mermaid witch's voice rang in her head, jarring Sayaka back to her senses. She shook her head and continued the telepathic link. "**_Yeah? What?_**" Oktavia's voice had sounded unnaturally worried; as if something was coming their way and the mermaid couldn't do anything to stop it.

"**_Your thoughts went kind of crazy for a moment there. 'Bout that Kamijou guy again. You really need to stop with the love triangle thing there,_**" Oktavia chastised. "**_It makes me confused. Honestly, you have a better chance with Akai than with winning that Kricketot Pokemon over._**"

Sayaka flushed a bright red. Akai. Red. Red-orange. Fire. Torchic. Kyosuke. Somehow, that chain of words made sense in her head. She also remembered, though, how Kyosuke had somehow managed to save both of them from falling off a mountain peak with a fire typhoon. Originally, she had thought it was just because he was getting desperate (and his hand was starting to really, really hurt), but…

Was it because he was concerned for her well-being? … Nah. Couldn't be, she told herself. That's, like… impossible. During the time she had been with Kyosuke, she'd learned early on fast that he only cared for himself. He did everything by himself – he fought by himself, trained himself, and he always sat as far as anyone else at the Mess Hall.

Anyone else but Sayaka…

"**_… _****_Aoi, it's not working. You already know he returns the feeling._**" Sayaka could just feel Oktavia's mischievous smile. "**_Confess? And please don't be like Ai, she's being so difficult with her own love life._**"

"**_Ai has a love life?_**" That was news for her. "**_Who's the lucky guy?_**"

"**_Eri._**"

Silence in the telepathic link for a moment, and Sayaka's eyes opened wide. "**_… WHAT?_**"

"**_Oh, piffle. Calm down. It's normal to like someone else of the same gender, you know. It's not like it's some sort of life-threatening crime or anything. Those two are Dimension Travelers, it'll work out._**" Oktavia was smiling, now; Sayaka just _knew _that. Must be a side effect of the telepathic link. "**_Eri's a natural flirt, though. Likes the company of other female Dimension Travelers, too. That's why it's rather easy for Ai to get jealous._**"

Now Sayaka was interested. "**_A natural flirt with the same gender? How does that even work?_**"

"**_Love works in mysterious ways, dear. Might want to inquire to the goddess of love about that if you're curious. If you have the potential to be a Dimension Traveler, than perhaps I can ask Ai to take you to the Greeks…_**"

"**_The _****Greeks****_?_**" The Totodile wondered just how many religions Dimension Travelers were exposed to. "**_I, uh… don't think being a Dimension Traveler is my style. Too dangerous._**"

Oktavia let out a disappointed mental sigh. "**_Oh. Well, that's too bad. Aphrodite is really a great companion once you get to know her._**" All of a sudden, the telepathic link fizzed out, then went back to normal. Sayaka knew this because she felt a pang of mental pain. "**_Oops. Another Shadow Stream. Sorry, Aoi, looks like this talk is going to be interrupted. I'll be somewhere else if you need me._**" With that hurried goodbye, the telepathic link was broken for good.

Sayaka hurried to try and establish another link – _how'd that stupid witch do it? maybe I should ask Ai later?_ – but she failed anyway. The Totodile sighed and slumped back on her seat, staring at the clock on the nightstand.

Four-thirty in the morning now. Sayaka groaned; she never was really much of a patient person. Standing up, the Totodile made her way to the outside of the guild.

* * *

It was windy, yes, but not very. She couldn't see the sun yet, which wasn't a very good omen, and Sayaka was just now starting to wonder what Kyosuke would say if he caught her sneaking out just after she was healed. Probably something like 'get your pretty little ass back here before I make you, bitch!' or whatever.

She knew it was dangerous, though. During the night, most predators would sneak out of the shadows and hunt for their prey, and while Sayaka was supposed to be a carnivore, she wasn't exactly a very strong one. Experienced predators could take her down without breaking a sweat. Of course, unless she got mad. In which case the predator didn't stand much of a chance.

Grass rustled. A twig snapped. Sayaka spun her head towards the direction where the sounds had come from, and found herself face-to-face with an grotesquely ugly face. "Well, well, well. Look what the Meowth dragged in."

She wished she had listened to Kyosuke's mental voice.

* * *

Oktavia was not amused. She was having a nice long talk with her host, when all of a sudden _two _Shadow Streams came flying out of nowhere. Above all, she _hated _Shadow Streams, since those usually meant new Shadows were in the near vicinity. And _fuck_, exterminating Shadows was Ai's job, not hers! Why she had accepted the Ninetales' request the mermaid witch will never know.

On the other hand, she was glad to have told Sayaka just about everything the Totodile wanted to know. She didn't exactly like keeping her host in the dark, especially since the Shadow Invasion was coming. If they didn't know about those soon, they'd get killed, and all that work would be for nothing. Ophelio would be horrified if she told him they died.

But where _were _Yuuki and Chiwa? Those two were late. They had promised to come when they finished up their business in their respective worlds (Yuuki playing some soccer game and Chiwa in the Netherworld), but they were nowhere to be seen! Oktavia fumed silently at this. When they came here, she'd strangle them both until they got the message.

Then she felt a twitch. A mortifying twitch in the broken telepathic link with Sayaka. Telepathic links were hard to break, and usually, they'd burn off after another two dozen minutes. During the time before that, times when the other Pokemon is in danger or feeling something extreme is when the receiving end will feel a twitch.

And Oktavia did _not _like this twitch. It meant Sayaka was in some kind of danger, and _Arceusdammit _she was keeping her host alive! Ophelio's host would be nothing without her!

The mermaid donned her navy blue cloak and teleported, finding herself in the beach, surprisingly enough. When she turned, however, the Totodile was already drifting slowly away in the waves. And she was sinking.

Oktavia grabbed her from the water instantly. When she checked her pulse, it was still there, but ridiculously faint. Another alarming thought struck her, and she checked Sayaka's wrist.

It wasn't there. The bracelet that held her crescent blue Soul Gem wasn't there. Only a burn and a scratch mark.

* * *

"You _really _think this is going to work, Chief?" Kriemhild asked, hands behind his head and leaning on the wall, relaxed. "Sure, one of those shiny shit could have energy, but if we got two of 'em-"

"Shut your sleazy purple ball," a dark voice muttered. From the shadows, a figure emerged, revealing the speaker to be a man in a black leather jacket, with a violet sleeveless shirt underneath it. His boots clacked on the ground, and his ripped jeans were, well… more ripped than what you'd find in a local shopping center. In fact, those rips looked perfectly natural. He had a purple Mohawk, too, which was slightly disturbing. "One a' these thangs s'enough. Girl din't know what hit her. If she was that easy, tha' other pussy prob'ly ain't gon' have much either."

Gretchen flinched under the Chief's heavy accent. "Bu-But… you know, the Torchic was… was really protective of her. What if he finds out we left her to die? Maybe we could have just asked nicely…"

"You, too, Zubat! Shut the fuck up!" the Chief ordered harshly. "If you want to be such a peacemaker, why don't you go over and _leave _this team, huh?!"

Gretchen squeaked and hid behind her wings. "N-no, Chief! I won't do it again, Chief! Please don't…"

The Chief clicked his tongue impatiently. "Tch. Whatever." Turning to look behind him, he was met with a very strange sight.

They were in an old abandoned house located near the edge of Treasure Town, and they had been using this house for their base of operations for a long time. Originally, it had been just a place to discuss and go over their silly, mischievous pranks, but…

This time, they had managed to force one of the most professional workshop in the town to build them something to transfer energy. It consisted of a pedestal and a drill-shaped machine (crafted with Aron-Iron Corporations, too). You'd place something on the pedestal containing tons of energy and use the machine to extract the energy straight off the item, then place another item _without _energy on the pedestal. The machine would then transfer the energy stored in it to the item. Whatever the trio wanted to use this for is up for debate.

"Let's review the plan." Kriemhild grabbed a dusty seat and sat down on it, the poor chair groaning under his weight. "First of all, the crystal thing is called a Soul Gem, right? And supposedly, Pokemon with Soul Gems are connected to the other worlds. Gretchen, let's see the Literal World Map again, shall we?"

It wasn't a request, and Gretchen knew that. She struggled to show the projection on the wall with the special poison she'd concocted before, and quite suddenly, a large map-like structure flashed on the cracked walls. Several circles, both big and small, were there, along with labels to show what they were inside the circles.

Kriemhild stood up and pointed towards a large circle. "This world is our world, the _Pokemon _world. Thanks to probably trustworthy sources, it will soon be overtaken by Shadows, things that, um… possess… living beings. I guess. Anyway, if we want to stop that from happening, we need to 'cleanse' Shadows, or something, with large amounts of a specific energy."

The Koffing quickly pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and straightened it, reading directly from the paper. "Now, uh… research from high-class laboratories say that the Pokemon soul is the soul that contains the largest amount of Hope. Hope is the only ingredient in the energy needed to make the Cleansing, or something, work. Any other ingredients contained in the energy is unneeded, but is allowed to be included in the energy. However, um… the ingredient of Despair is likely to reverse the effect of the Cleansing and instead turn all Pokemon into Shadows themselves. Erm…"

He flipped the paper to the back and continued. "Um, yes. The Soul Gem, on the other hand, is something all living beings, Pokemon or no, receive when they once originated from one world and died in that world. However, some outside force had apparently given them life and transferred them to another world. The Soul Gem contains the very Soul of that Pokemon and therefore has great amounts of both Hope and many other ingredients. Whether there is Despair in this Soul or not has yet to been confirmed." He folded the paper as neatly as he could and stuffed it back in his pocket. "Um, I guess that's it. Was there something I missed, Chief?"

The Chief, who had been listening closely to make sure there wasn't a single mistake in the research, nodded with a satisfied smirk. "Good. Yer much better at this kinda thang than tha Zubat, Koffin'."

"Uh. Thanks, I guess." Kriemhild shrugged. Gretchen stared at the floor, ashamed.

"One thang, though." The Chief turned to face Kriemhild. "Ya said there may or may not be Despair or whatever in tha Soul. What if there is? What're _we _gunna do? We're gunna be the Pokemon who destroy this world if that's so!"

"Chief, if I remember correctly, you were the one who said this girl wasn't gonna have any Despair in her Soul because she looked so happy," Kriemhild responded flatly. "'Sides, if there _is _any Despair in her Soul, there's always that other guy with red hair."

The Chief clicked his tongue once again. "Wha'ever ya say, Koffin'. But I'm warnin' ya, if _anythin'_, and I mean _anythin'_ goes wrong in this thang…"

He revealed a grotesque grin, and a bushy purple tail with cream stripes revealed itself behind him. "_Ye're _gunna be responsible, or I'm not a Skuntank."

* * *

**Good morning/afternoon/evening, readers. -grin- New chapter today! Originally, it was gonna be posted on Friday, but I got The Mark of Athena ****_and _****The City of Bones, so I couldn't help myself. Sue me for being a book-y geek.**

**'Nyway. Umm, yeah. Just a bunch of exposition here, like the chapter. I don't know, I guess I was just on a roll today. Uh, you might also want to read Platinum Eyes, a thing I made. It needs more love. -pout-**

_**Reisu, 7-21-13**_


	11. The Chief

"It's six thirty in the morning and Sayaka's gone missing. It's a new record," Sadie mumbled under her breath. "Any idea when she'll be back?"

Truth be told, she was quite worried for her Totodile friend. The fact that she had been targeted by an outlaw and almost fell off a cliff _right after _her childhood friend decided to hook up with a girl he probably barely even knew just some days ago was enough to scar you for life.

Not that she had experienced that, but… Sadie winced. Best not to let those memories get in the way.

"Oktavia isn't here yet either. There must be something serious going on if the mermaid witch and Sayaka didn't leave with at least a note or anything," Artie suggested. He was sitting down with his notebook laying open on his lap while thinking deeply. "Perhaps they were kidnapped… no. Oktavia is quite strong, she'd have gotten out."

Kyosuke, on the other hand, was pacing back and forth restlessly. "Are they somewhere else right now, maybe Aoi got really depressed about that Kamijou guy, or maybe they're playing a really unfunny prank on us, but no, that mermaid bitch and Aoi getting friendly with each other is less likely than me losing to that bunch of random idiots, or they could be-"

Miyako, who had been sitting on a chair quietly, suddenly piped up. "I've recognized a psychic signature around here," she said. "I think it was caused by a telepathic link. I can't… I can't 'connect' to it, per say, but Ai's a lot better than me at this… if she was here, I could ask her to trace the signature for me… um…"

"Well then why don't we _call _on her?!" Kyosuke yelled. He was practically hyperventilating by this point. "Whatever leads us to her is good enough! I don't care if it's barely even related, I _need to know where they are!_"

"Okay, okay!" Sadie responded, jumping in front of the Torchic and attempting to calm him down. "Keep your voice down! There are others who like their sleep the way it is, you know!"

"Well, in defense, it is possible," Artie said, scribbling something down on his notebook and pushing his glasses up. "Psychic signatures are very definite, so even if you're a newbie in tracing them, it doesn't really matter because you'd usually get it during the first or second try. I've read that Pokemon who can do that are called Tracers."

"Tracers?" Miyako repeated. "That's… confusing… but anyway, I think, _think _I can get it if I try really hard." She noted the intense stare on Kyosuke's face, and constantly had to remind herself he was just agitated from Sayaka's lack of presence. "Alright. Um, here I go…"

The Eevee closed her eyes and clenched her hand around the chain timepiece around her neck. It vibrated with the psychic energy she was receiving, and suddenly, a telepathic message flew into her brain. "**_Did they travel from world to world or something?_**"

She winced; her mental strength wasn't accustomed to telepathic links just yet. She'd probably have to try harder. The timepiece started vibrating even more now, almost to the point of bursting. She could hear the whispers at the back of her mind, snatches of the conversation from earlier, most probably. She caught the word 'fate', and instantly, she knew this wasn't a good thing.

And then suddenly, there _was _a telepathic message, but not from the past – this time, from the present. The voice sounded strangely rough and static was intercepting the message, but it rang clear and through in Miyako's mind.

"**_Sayaka's in trouble. Find her Soul Gem; quick. You have an estimated time of thirty minutes. Fail, and she faces erasure._**"

From the looks on the others' faces, Miyako knew they had heard it too. With not a second to spare, all four of them rushed out of the guild.

Oktavia hoped the telepathic message she sent towards the others was successful. Telepathic links work much better if they were closer to each other, after all.

Now, while she knew everyone but Kyosuke had no idea as to what a Soul Gem was, she hoped they had at least seen the blue crescent-shaped jewel hanging off from her bracelet. It was really hard to miss, since it sparkled and shined like a wave of pennies in the ocean.

The mermaid witch was carrying Sayaka's body and desperately racking her brain for a place whoever took it would run off to. Wait, why would they get her Soul Gem in the first place? Maybe they mistook it for something that would sell a lot… that wasn't good. It may be a foreigner, and they'd most probably never even see the Soul Gem again.

All of a sudden, a little boy jumped out of the bushes. His floppy ears were enough to let Oktavia know it was a Spinda Pokemon, albeit somewhat… confused. He looked around for a bit, before noticing the mermaid witch and smiling welcomingly. "Oh! You're looking?" he asked.

"_If you mean I'm single, then no,_" she responded quickly. "_But I _am _looking for someone else._"

"Perfect!" he squealed. "Nobody's looking for anyone anymore. I'm supposed to be the Leader! But no, no one ever goes to _me _for help anymore. It's so annoying!" he stamped his foot in frustration, before seemingly remembering Oktavia was still there. "Oh, yeah. Follow me!"

"_Why should I-_" then the mermaid witch understood – Leader. He was a Leader. Right. "_Okay, fine, Leader. Lead me to whomever I desire._" She rolled her eyes.

The Spinda giggled childishly and skipped off towards Treasure Town in a flash, zipping through the morning Pokemon and shop owners. "Over here, over here!" he called out, and Oktavia sighed.

She followed anyway. Leaders were never wrong, young as they were.

When she arrived at an old, rickety house, she mentally agreed she would never, ever follow this Leader ever again.

The Spinda wasn't even deterred when he saw the house, instead, saluting with a grin and bounding off. Oktavia tried to call out to him and yell why he led her to this place, before remembering that she was supposed to be looking for Sayaka's Soul Gem. She groaned; why, oh _why _did the Shadow Invasion had to happen at this time period? Why couldn't it at least be in that other world, that place where… where… alright, so sue her if she couldn't remember, but she hadn't paid attention during Ai's lecture about the different worlds.

She didn't bother to knock. Kicking down the moldy door, she winced slightly as she looked around the house's interior. It was overcome with some plants' vines, perhaps some poison ivy mixed in there too, and all the belongings were scattered across the entire floor. Oktavia could hear murmuring and whispering in the other room, however, so she draped her cloak around herself. Just a backup, in case they did something she couldn't avoid.

Pressing her ear against the (slightly) cleaner door, she listened to the conversation as closely as possible.

"-you know! We really, really ought to get that other Torchic's Soul Gem. It's probably a ton better than this stupid blue thing!"

"Shut up, Koffin'. I told ya, we'ren't gettin' tha' other guy's Soul Gem cuz' it's too tirin'. I dun' care if this ain't work, we can jus' blackmail tha' witch inta gettin' us into anotha' world anyway."

At the mention of the word 'witch', Oktavia instantly grew suspicious. These guys were definitely the ones who stole Sayaka's Soul Gem, but how did they know there was a witch amongst the group? Of course, it could have been the fact that she looked nothing like a Pokemon, but it wasn't like they had known specifically she had been a witch. These Pokemon were… troubling, to say the least.

"Calm yourselves," came a rather unexpected familiar voice. "As long as no one finds this place, Sayaka's Soul Link will disappear, and her Soul shall detach completely from her body. After that, she should be no more. Kyosuke shall then be highly depressed, and w- you can all snatch away his entire body for all I care." There was a certain desperation and/or guilt in the voice, and Oktavia was practically on her knees (no, she didn't care if she didn't actually have knees) by this point.

She knew that voice. It was Ai.

"F… F… Found something," Artie wheezed as he collapsed in front of the dilapidated house. "I… I think this is something to start searching."

"Perfect!" Sadie was about to push the door straight off its hinges, but found out that it was already pushed down and thrown away. "… Oh. That's too bad, I like destroying doors…"

Artie stared at his partner, before shaking his head and heading further in the house. They tried not to pay attention to the house's… _interesting _choice of décor, but instead neared the door to which Oktavia was pressing her ear to. The mermaid witch put her index finger on her lips to shush them as soon as Sadie opened her mouth to make some sort of surprised squeal (Artie admits it was rather amusing hearing Sadie of all Pokemon squeal), then gestured them to come closer to her.

"**_Ai. Trouble. Kriemhild and Gretchen. Their boss._**" Talking through the telepathic link was absolutely horrible as the high amount of tension disrupted Oktavia's focus – not to mention the fact that she knew something was terribly wrong here – but Sadie and Artie managed to understand most of what she was trying to say. _Ai has somehow turned to the Dark Side because she was lured in_ _by_ **cookies ****_no Sadie why would you think that_**_ something and the Poison Pokemon from before stole Sayaka's Soul Gem for_ **more cookies ****_how hungry are you really_**_energy or something else _**like cookies ****_Arceusdammit Sadie_** _and now _**it's been fifteen minutes how dead is Aoi?**

That question brought all three of them to their senses, and they saw Kyosuke standing imposingly behind them with an irritated look in his eyes. As soon as another question occurred to them, they saw the guilty-looking Miyako beside the Torchic, and the question was answered as soon as it had appeared.

"I repeat, how, dead, is, Aoi?" Kyosuke said, out loud and emphasizing his words this time, and Artie hurried to give him the keep-your-voice-down-or-I-swear-to-Palkia-we're-al l-going-to-die look. The Torchic scowled, but pressed his ear against the barely holding door next to them.

The very moment he heard Ai's voice again, he wrenched himself from the door, summoned his spear, and smashed it straight through the rotting wood. It broke apart in milliseconds and the sight of the least likely Pokemon to be gathering in a single room just about outraged him.

There was Kriemhild the Koffing, the one who had stolen his and Sayaka's Soul Gems so many days ago. Gretchen the Zubat, the one who had used her weak Psychic powers to make that wave of water crash on him. Ai the shiny Ninetales, the one he never really trusted that much, and now he knew why.

There was a new one in the room, though; some punk-looking Pokemon with a big bushy Skuntank tail. No wonder the room smelled.

"_What have you done to Aoi's Soul Gem?!_" he all but yelled, causing Gretchen to shrink down to half her normal height. The Skuntank simply looked as if he didn't have a care in the world, and Kriemhild looked just about ready to punch Kyosuke's face in.

Ai stared at him with a poker face, but he was used to poker faces himself – good one, he remarked silently in his mind, but not good enough. He knew what emotions she was hiding underneath. Guilt, desperation, probably some depression mixed in there too.

"Stole it. Poked it. Stared at it. We haven't done anything to it." Kriemhild narrowed his eyes, and the Torchic could see he was trying very hard not to say 'yet'. "What do you care? I thought you hated her."

That stumped him. Kyosuke attempted to make up some kind of excuse, but he couldn't, really. He had his pride to keep, his pride and his dignity, but deep down he knew he really didn't know what he would have done if he hadn't met Sayaka on the beach that day. He probably would have been dead by now, or something. He tried to act like he didn't care about anyone, but he would protect Sayaka with his life if it was needed. He couldn't let his weakness show to the antagonists, though, and he struggled to say his next words.

"… Yeah, I do. I just owe her a favor, that's all. She doesn't mean anything to me."

As if on cue, a glimmer of blue caught his eye, and he saw the contraption a few ways away. The Soul Gem, which he knew once had every single shade of blue there was, now contained prominent black and shadowy tendrils circling the aqua hues. He winced, a bit; he knew his words must have been the cause for the additional black taint.

It hurt saying those words. So. Much.

At his statement, the Skuntank guffawed loudly. "She don't mean nuthin' ta ya, huh? Well, _tha's _surprisin'!"

Kyosuke clenched his fist, trying not to launch it at the Skuntank's face. "… Whatever. Just… give me her… her Soul Gem."

"No can do, boy," the Skuntank said, waving his index finger in front of his face as if scolding the Torchic. "See here, somethin' bad's gonna happen soon, and _we _wanna fix it. _We _wanna do somethin' _good _so that those scumbags don't underestimate us no more."

Okay, good. He got something out of them. At least those words meant something. "And what exactly is this 'something bad', huh?"

"Something a little brain like yours won't be able to handle," Kriemhild snapped, standing up. "If you leave now, maybe we won't have to kill you."

Kyosuke scoffed, although it sounded fake, even in his ears. "Kill me! As if. Why don't you try killing me now, hm?"

It worked. The Koffing dashed towards him and readied his fist, but instead of him getting close enough for Kyosuke to stab him right on the spot, the Skuntank shook his head. Kriemhild stopped abruptly, lowering his fist and staring at the Skuntank bemusedly.

"Let _me _settle this one. 'Sides, he's stupid enough ta think he can handle any of us." With a hissing sound, the Skuntank unsheathed a sword from his back (Kyosuke was sure that hadn't been there before) and gripped the handle firmly with both hands.

The Torchic hesitated. The sword's blade was dripping with what looked like fatally lethal poison, and no matter how strong he thought he might be, he wasn't strong enough to take on a fully evolved Pokemon. Plus, the Skuntank looked tougher than even Oktavia, and that was saying something. The way he handled his sword with both hands unnerved Kyosuke too; he knew double-handed weapons packed much more power than one-handed ones.

Still, he had to do this for Sayaka's sa-

'**_Don't do it, idiot! He'll beat you in seconds!_**'

The sudden voice caused Kyosuke's hand to slip just the tiniest bit, and his spear clanged to the floor. The Skuntank's eyes widened, but he then let out a loud, house-shaking (literally) laugh. "So you think you're oh-so-strong ya can take me with nothin' but yer bare hands? _Hah! _Now _tha's _somethin' I don't see ev'ryday!"

'_Shiiiiit._' Kyosuke glanced down at the spear on the floor; it dissipated the moment he lost his focus. He knew he couldn't summon it again – that would shatter every last bit of his pride. Plus, the Skuntank might underestimate him, and dying knowing he had died willingly was much more satisfying than dying with a weapon. Hold on, that hadn't made sense…

Either way, he was going to win. He _had _to. Saying those words was painful enough.

'**_Listen to me for _****once****_, Kyosuke you moron!_****'**

'_You again!_' Kyosuke thought irritably. '_Who are you, really?!_'

'**_I'm _****Sayaka****_, you brain-dead dimwit!_**'

That managed to shut him up some. Kyosuke's focus wavered once more, and the Skuntank grunted impatiently. "Are ya backin' out now? Sheesh, don'cha know how a fight like this works? Ya state yer name, and I say mine, then we fight to the death! What, is this yer first battle ever?"

Kyosuke resisted the urge to punch him in the face and returned his attention to the peculiar Sayaka-voice-imposter. True, it did sound like Sayaka, but… wasn't she unconscious?

'**_Well, yeah, my mortal body is. You're close enough for me to try Soul Telepathy._**'

'_What?_' Kyosuke's mind was going haywire by now, and he decided he didn't want answers for now. '_On second thought, never mind. Tell me what the hell that is when I get your damn soul back in your body._'

'**_I _****told ****_you, don't do i-_**'

"Kyosuke Sakura," he said, maybe a bit too loud than he intended. "I 'cept your challenge, and shit. Your turn."

The Skuntank grinned that grotesque grin of his. "'Bout time. Ya have one girly last name."

Kyosuke Sakura bristled.

"Walpurgis Night is the name, Sakura," he yelled, smirking. "And let's _dance_."

* * *

**HOLY FUCK I'M SO SORRY.**

**I was seriously really busy, with exams coming up, so I couldn't really write the update. But hey! Here I am (still holding on...). Also yes, that was a song reference.**

**Anyway, there were two anime references last chapter, and a game reference in this one. I love references, they're so much fun. If you can catch and name all of them you get a cookie. Or three cookies, I 'unno.**

_**Reisu, 8/09/13**_


	12. The Fight and The Evolution

They both took off at the same time.

Kyosuke managed to squeeze in the first attack before Walpurgis's sword stabbed him in the gut, however; a stream of fire erupted from his palm and scorched the Skuntank's arm. Truth be told, the Torchic had been aiming for the sword so that he wouldn't be in any mortal danger, but he had missed. He acted as if he had been trying to do that all along, though.

"Not so high and mighty now, are you?" Kyosuke called out as Walpurgis howled in pain. Narrowing his eyes, the Skuntank raised his sword higher and…

… plunged it straight onto the ground.

A rumbling sound filled the air and Kyosuke looked around distractedly. He noticed Artie's face, dawning with some kind of revelation; Sadie's equally confused face; Oktavia's 'well-fuck' expression; Miyako's mouth wide open in shock; Kriemhild and Gretchen looking horrified; Ai…

Ai was staring at Walpurgis with an unreadable expression, but Kyosuke noted a hint of resentment in her eyes.

"This," the Skuntank said, smirking. "is what I like to call 'the killin' of unwanted Pokemon like ya'."

And then the _entire fucking house came down on them._

* * *

'**_Oktavia?_**'

'**_Yes?_**'

'**_I'd just like to say… giving me a second chance isn't very equal to saving me or giving me a happy life or anything._**'

'**_The ignorant candle hosting Kyo-Kyo says otherwise._**'

'**_I highly disagree._**'

'**_So be it. Don't worry, Kaori's a Chronicler, you'll be fine._**'

'**_Because that makes perfect sense._**'

'**_It… does…_**'

* * *

_Smoke everywhere – _

_And – _

_Something… –_

_A violin… again – _

_She called it… –_

_Symposium Magarum – _

* * *

Kyosuke groaned, at first, when he woke up… then he stared around at his surroundings without moving his neck because goddamn every single bone in his body felt like it had been broken to pieces, and then the pieces broke into more pieces.

He was aware that his entire body was underneath a whole shit ton of debris and that he was slowly suffocating and he was probably gonna die, yeah?

But Sayaka's fate relied on him _completely_, and if he didn't get her Soul Gem back to her body soon…

"Kyosuke! Ky_osuke_, wake up! _Wake the hell up b-before I make you!_"

Okay, he hadn't expected that. He was thinking more along the lines of Walpurgis gloating about his victory, so on and so forth, not someone who had the voice of an angel. That is, if she wasn't an angel already…

He felt one of the floorboards on his head disappear and pure blinding light blasted his pupils; he tried to shut them close, but then a face lined with short blue hair appeared in his vision and then he was thinking of every single positive adjective to describe what he was seeing.

He felt something cold drip on his cheek and he noticed that the face's beautiful blue eyes were flooding with tears, and they were raining on him like no tomorrow. He couldn't resist the urge to wipe the saltwater off her face, even if it stung his fingers a bit.

"Hi. Glad you're awake." He managed a smile.

* * *

"If ya're done having yer melodrama ov'r there, I'd really like to continue our battle?"

Walpurgis's haughty voice pierced the air and ruined the moment once more as Sayaka helped the panting Torchic back to his feet. Said Torchic turned to the Skuntank with a glare so intense Walpurgis felt like backing away. He maintained his composure, though just barely. "Obviously… yer not fit to take me on yet. How 'bout ya get yer ass kicked by these two?" He gestured towards the arrogantly grinning Kriemhild and the mortified Gretchen.

"To me, it looks like _you're _the one not fit to take me on," Kyosuke grumbled. "The day I ever get my ass kicked by anyone, least of all them, is the day the sun explodes."

"That day isn't very far from now," Ai piped up from her levitating blue will-o-wisp. Kyosuke turned his glare on the Ninetales, but she didn't even flinch.

Just then, before the Torchic would try to act cool and fight off the Koffing and Zubat, a blur of brown and red smashed into Kriemhild at full speed. He went flying – past the debris, past the broken house, and smacked on a tree trunk. Before he could even get up to try and see who assaulted him, an array of knives pinned him to the trunk by sticking themselves onto his clothes.

Standing in front of him was Sadie, crossing her arms and smiling proudly at her handiwork. Artie simply rolled his eyes as he tossed a fireball from hand to hand. "This guy actually managed to poison Sadie last time we fought," he said, turning around to stare right into the now frightened Kriemhild's eyes. "I think a punishment is in order."

With a flick of his wrist, the fireball split into four and enlarged in size greatly, before speeding towards the Koffing and burning the poor Pokemon up. With great effort, he managed to dispel the fireballs with a barrier tinted purple, but the damage had been done; at least it hadn't caused greater. His clothes burned and his skin scorched, Kriemhild forcibly pulled the knives off him and advanced towards the duo with a threatening glare.

… Rather, he advanced towards the duo with the slowest speed possible. Sadie looked puzzled at his behavior, while Artie readied another fireball in his right palm.

"Heads up," the Koffing drawled, seconds after firing a dozen poison-tipped spikes at them. Thanks to the warning, however, they managed to dodge most of them, but they didn't expect the sudden sharp slash of air that tore at their backs.

Gretchen squeaked a 'sorry' out as she flapped her wings, hard; another Air Slash sped straight toward Artie, and the physically frail Vulpix couldn't get out of the way in time as he flew towards the very same tree trunk and slumped to the ground.

Sadie, instead of panicking, turned to Gretchen with murderous intent very much visible in her eyes. With knives appearing in the spaces between her fingers, the Eevee managed to cross the distance between her and Gretchen in seconds as she stabbed her knives straight on the Zubat's wings.

Screeching in pain, Gretchen scrambled to get away from Sadie as she reached for another bottle of poison in her dress pocket. However, the Eevee was already there, knife in hand and very much trying not to slice the Zubat's head off.

Before Sadie could land the fatal blow, however, more spikes came towards her out of nowhere and crashing onto her back, where the Air Slash had already damaged. She screamed as the spikes made contact with the openly bleeding wound cutting onto her bare skin and kneeled on the ground. Gretchen, with great difficulty, pulled out the bottle of poison and (muttering 'I'm so sorry' all the way) poured it on the wound.

_Berserk Button: pushed._

Practically an _explosion _of fire burst from the area below the tree trunk, and the fires encircled Kriemhild and Gretchen, singeing their clothes and skin, but not overly hurting them. The fires did cage them effectively, though, and the two Poison types looked over at what seemed to be a glowing mass on the ground worriedly.

Bright plumes of fire spurted from the mass every once in a while, and quite suddenly, the glow disappeared. In place of a simple Vulpix, however, was now a Pokemon that seemed to be about Ai's height, with curly blonde hair and a dark yellow vest over a sunny shirt. He wore dull yellow (dull yellow being sort of an oxymoron) jeans that managed to stay on because of an orange belt, and finally…

The nine long tails with orange tips that told the world Artie had evolved into a Ninetales.

While it didn't look like all his wounds had healed, they had recovered greatly. There were a few rips and tears on his skin, and his glasses were just barely hanging on, but he looked fine enough to fight once more. Though it didn't look as if he was doing it voluntarily, flames that looked suspiciously like wings encircled his brown loafers, giving him the impression of an intimidating enemy.

Clutched in his right fist was a staff, and a very long and intricate one at that. It measured about three feet and at the tip was a burning, flickering red flame. The design on the inferno-shaded staff consisted of an animalistic Moltres, the legendary Pokemon bird of fire. Similar wings of fire sprouted from its sides, adding to his impression.

"So." His voice didn't seem to have changed. It made Gretchen shiver like a human popsicle all the same. "You… hurt her."

It wasn't a question, they were going to die, and… they were going to die.

Artie raised his staff and aimed the tip directly at Kriemhild first; he was trying to remain stoic, but he was shaking like his bladder was about to burst. It very well near did. "I. I can't… I."

A stream of fire erupted from the tip and crashed onto Kriemhild's arm, where Kyosuke's spear had punctured some days ago; it hurt, obviously, since he shrieked without limit. Gretchen's eyes widened, both in fear and relief – it had hurt, but Kriemhild wasn't dead, so…

"I hate it when I'm merciful," Artie mumbled, just loud enough for Kriemhild to hear, and the Koffing hung his head in shame as well.

Just as Artie was about to rush to Sadie's side and bring out his handy-dandy first aid kit, he felt something rushing towards him at great speed from behind. He turned around, but it was too late; Walpurgis's sword was hurtling towards him without any intention of stopping or changing direction and…

… and then it actually did stop and change direction.

Artie's neck instantly snapped to Miyako's general direction, and his assumption was right – the Eevee was focusing ridiculously hard while her chain timepiece glowed brightly. The sword itself was lined with pinkish psychic energy, and it had flown back to _thunk _towards the poor, abused tree trunk. It clattered to the ground moments later, right next to an orange stone that had saved both Artie's and Sadie's life.

Sayaka looked furious at what Walpurgis had just done. Stomping towards him, she pulled out a cutlass from nowhere and pointed it directly at his throat with an angry glint in her eyes. "What were you _thinking?!_ That was _their _fight! You had no right to interfere with it!" she screamed. She spared a glance at the scene and saw the aftermath; Gretchen pulling out various antidotes of all kinds and Artie having to tend to both Sadie and Miyako.

Walpurgis, on the other hand, just smirked. "They din't have an official duel like me and that Sakura guy. I had _ev'ry _right to interrupt, mind ya, croc."

Her glare hardening, Sayaka slowly stepped backwards and rejoined Kyosuke as he struggled to stay on his two feet. Oktavia and Ai stared at each other without any emotion, but Sayaka could see the tension between the two peculiar Pokemon… if Oktavia could be called a Pokemon.

"So?" Kyosuke asked, trying to keep his voice loud enough for Walpurgis to hear. "Are you done hiding behind your lackeys now?"

"Hidin'?" Walpurgis bristled. "I'm doin' anythin' _bu' _hidin', an' I'll show ya what I'm really doin'!" In the speed of light, Walpurgis conjured up several shadowy orbs half-surrounding him from behind and pointed at the trio. The Shadow Balls launched themselves at Kyosuke first, smashing into his already tired body and causing him to lose consciousness once more. Oktavia deflected most of the Shadow Balls aimed for her, but she winced once a particularly big one sizzled on her barrier. Sayaka slashed at the orbs with her cutlass before they reached her; two balls crashed onto her from either side when she was distracted with Kyosuke's unmoving body, though.

Sayaka desperately crawled over to where Kyosuke was, scooping him up in her lap and trying to see if he was still breathing. He was, but she could feel his heart rate slowing down. Sayaka was going through every single possibility in her head, but she came up with none-

_Didn't he somehow…_

With great difficulty, she looked over to Oktavia with a look that said 'i-don't-want-to-ask-for-your-help-but-just-this-o nce-okay?'. The mermaid witch didn't seem to understand for a moment, but then smiled (a honest-to-goodness one now, this time) and snapped her fingers.

* * *

_Another day in the life of Kyosuke. Wonderful. The Torchic scowled at his internal thoughts._

_He'd oh-so-accidentally woken up a tad too early today, and he was now staring at the guild for Exploration Teams. It was a strange one, with so much gold and an old Raichu for a guard, but it seemed almost… intimidating, in some aspect._

_He didn't want to join an Exploration Team, oh no (in fact, he held deep resentment towards a few). He just happened to come across the building while gathering berries from the trees in Apple Woods. Thankfully, most of the Pokemon there were weak and untrained, so he managed to get away from the poisonous ones even without Fire type attacks._

_Cradled in his arms were several kinds of berries, along with Oran and Sitrus. He hated gummis, surprisingly enough, but he had to eat them anyway so that he'd be able to stay in tip-top shape for random fights._

_An Exploration Team suddenly came out of the guild, and Kyosuke hastily ducked behind a tree as he watched the duo – a Charmander and a Treecko, he assumed – talk animatedly with each other and head towards the west. _

_Checking to make sure no other teams were going to come out, he inched his way to Treasure Town carefully. He spotted a hint of red and green and, eyes widening, he abandoned his slow speed and rushed towards the very edge._

_He didn't slow down until he reached the cliff edge, where the waves from the beach below crashed at the bottom. Luckily, it didn't seem as if anyone was watching, so he crawled down to a hidden tunnel._

_Kyosuke ended up in some kind of makeshift chamber; it was located deep underground and had most of the necessities needed in daily life. However, rain sometimes seeped through every now and then, and the Torchic didn't feel like making some kind of roof with his limited resources._

_Dumping the berries in a basket on a wooden table, Kyosuke sighed tiredly and sat on the bed, pushing off his slippers and crawling underneath the blankets. Today, he did indeed go to Apple Woods to pick some berries, but he had heard one of the local schools was having a field trip there today, and, well…_

_… __one of the students there was that blue-haired Totodile with the violin…_

_Even admitting it to himself internally was embarrassing, and his face flushed red. It was a coincidence he picked this day to go to Apple Woods! A total coincidence!_

_… __Even his argument didn't sound like an argument anymore. It was more along the lines of a desperate excuse._

_Maybe he _did _spy on them a little bit… maybe he _did _fend off a few of those annoying Pokemon that tried to attack them… and maybe, just maybe, he _did _lead the group of the bluenette towards a tree with rare berries…_

_He just overheard that their activity was to collect as many berries as they could! He thought they'd be given extra points for getting rare ones…_

_Kyosuke wondered why he did that in the first place._

* * *

When the Torchic came to, he was laying on his bed in the guild dorm.

It took a good few seconds for him to remember what had happened.

Immediately, he sat up straight, then yelped at the sudden pain that erupted at his backside.

"Hey, don't do that!" an admonishing voice came from his left. "You're not fully healed yet, so take it easy for now."

Kyosuke knew that voice.

Once he heard that voice, it felt like the weight of the sky lifted from his shoulders, and he plopped his upper body back on the bed. Sayaka's confused face was the first thing he saw, and the first thing he categorized as 'cutest expression ever'.

"You actually followed me?" she asked in amazement. "It's a sign of the apocalypse!"

"_It _will _be the apocalypse once Yuuki and Chiwa finally _come _here!_" Oktavia's normally calm voice yelled from the other side of the room. "_I _hate _it when they leave me waiting!_"

Sayaka turned an irritated face to the mermaid witch. "Oh, shut it, Oktavia. Just because you've helped me once-"

"_You mean, like, three hundred and forty two times?_"

"-doesn't mean you get to complain in my room, stay in my room, and interrupt me _in my room!_" A tick mark appeared on the side of the Totodile's head.

Oktavia simply crossed her arms smugly. "_I don't care about your restrictions, dear. Ah, if only I could tell you what you really are…_"

"Excuse me? What who really is, now?"

"_Nothing._" Oktavia disappeared, her navy blue cloak fluttering in sight for a nanosecond.

The Totodile sighed, before returning to Kyosuke's side. "I hate it when she gets all difficult and annoying like that," she grumbled.

Just when the Torchic was about to give a remark about how he was difficult and annoying as well, he noticed a few scrapes and bruises on Sayaka's skin, and a little… something behind her on the table. He asked about the former.

"Oh, these?" Sayaka absentmindedly patted one of her band-aided ones. "It's nothing. I just, uh…" she hesitated, flinching at the thought. "My Soul Gem was just kinda corrupted, so I, um… yeah." She finished lamely.

"Oh." No doubt it was his fault it was corrupted, Kyosuke thought. "Well then. … Violin?"

Sayaka didn't seem to be surprised at his discovery; in fact, she smiled a bit. "Sarasvati? She's an old friend of mine, don't worry."

Silence for a bit.

Abruptly, Sayaka turned away from Kyosuke, her cheeks tinted red. "Um." It was almost like her tongue was taped to the roof of her mouth. "I… um, before, in that house… you said…"

_She doesn't mean anything to me._

Kyosuke winced; even thinking the words hurt. He couldn't believe he had actually said that, lie or not. "I didn't mean it."

The Totodile let out an obvious sigh of relief. "Oh."

'**_You owe her an apology._**' Oktavia's telepathic voice echoed in his head. Kyosuke wasn't anywhere near surprised.

'**_Yeah, I think I'll do that._**' The mermaid witch's speechlessness was amusing.

Before he knew it, Kyosuke had scooped Sayaka up in a hug, and the bluenette didn't bother trying to go on the defensive – she just buried her face in Kyosuke's chest and inhaled his scent.

The words came out without him knowing it. "I'm just glad you're okay."

* * *

**3K WORD SPECIAL YEEEAH**

**For your information, I stayed up late to watch Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S, and now I'm just FEELS. And when I closed VLC Media Player, this idea just ****_came _****to me, so I stayed up extra late to type this. Then I remembered I had to actually make sense when I type, so...**

**... Nah. I fell asleep on the keyboard. Review!**

**(Also yes, Artie evolved. :P Sorry I didn't get your approval beforehand, Kyophelia, it just kinda came to me and I doubted I'd get an answer from you fast enough. Hope you like it.)**

_**Reisu, 8/12/13**_


	13. The Amp Plains and The Students

"Here we are!"

"Wait, Miyako, are you sure we should be going somewhere like this after all that's been going on lately?"

"Sure."

"…"

Team Red Bean Paste, Team Tales, Miyako, and Oktavia stood outside the grand (?) building of Spiral's Café, its roof decorated with its namesake. They had actually gone on with the original plan of visiting the café (although a few days had already passed since), and Kyosuke was extra excited about getting to drink the famed 'Spiral Smoothie', a drink the café was known for.

Sayaka, however, was a bit reluctant on the plan. She kept trying to say that Kyosuke and Sadie were still seriously injured, but both would always reply with a 'we're fine!', though it was quite obvious they weren't, judging by the many bandages they hadn't taken off yet. Added with the fact that they still flinched each time they saw Sayaka or Artie heading towards them with a bottle of alcohol didn't help with their excuse.

Miyako and Oktavia, however, were a bit more forceful in their offers this time (more on Oktavia; Miyako was just kind of hanging-around-at-the-back-and-agreeing-to-everyth ing-Oktavia-said) and Sayaka eventually agreed. Highly reluctantly, should we add. Artie was the same, but due to Sadie continuously begging him to let her go, he gave in faster than the bluenette, who had long developed a resistance against Kyosuke's pouty face.

As they entered, Sadie and Kyosuke instantly went for the drink section and left the remaining four to look for a table in the crowded café. A few Pokemon stared at the peculiar looking mermaid witch, but averted their eyes when she grinned at them sinisterly.

They managed to snatch a small one in the corner, near a couple cobwebs and covered in lots of dust. Considering that the café had barely been built for a week or two, the feat of having a table as dusty as the one they were sitting on (reluctantly) was big. It wasn't a feat to be very proud of, though.

When the waiter, a Wynaut easily identified by the big, thick, and fluffy black scarf acting as the 'tail', arrived, Sayaka still hadn't made up her mind. She was internally having a heated debate over whether she should get the healthy one or the delicious one ('Nutrients!' the healthy side yelled, while the delicious side screamed, 'TASTE BUDS APPRECIATION!'), and eventually decided on the aggressively arguing delicious one.

"I'll, uh… I'll have the chocomallow coffee," she muttered quietly, too quietly that the Wynaut had to lean in to hear her. Oktavia smirked, mentally congratulating her host for finally following Kyosuke's diabetic footsteps.

"S-She'll have the Sushi Blend," Sayaka continued, pointing at Oktavia. To be honest, she had no idea what a sushi blend was, nor did she want to find out.

"An espresso," Artie deadpanned. From his eyebags, it was obvious he was staying up late at night thinking up excuses and explanations for Oktavia's and Sadie's mischievous pranks.

"I'll have some of the best cheesecakes you have in here," Miyako said, smiling. "If possible, add some strawberry and cherry toppings too."

Bowing, the waiter skipped off towards the counter, leaving the three of them to stare at the still-smiling Miyako. "Something wrong?" she asked, tilting her head in question.

"Cheesecake? With cherries and strawberries?" Artie inquired curiously. "Is that for Mami?"

Miyako brightened up. "Oh, yes! She told me she's been having some trouble taking care of all the rowdy exploration teams lately, so I decided to cheer her up with some cheesecake. Charlotte really loves them too, so I suppose they'll be happy if I give them some."

"_Thoughtful of you,_" Oktavia sing-songed. "_Unlike my host, who refuses to thank me for everything I've done for her and Kyo-Kyo._"

It was obvious why Oktavia was in a slightly better mood now; the Yuuki and Chiwa she had mentioned so many times had finally showed up, and they were exhausted. Yuuki, a Skitty, had fallen asleep in Oktavia's bed the second she fell on it, and Chiwa, a Meowth, hadn't even made it to the bed; she just fell flat on the floor, dozing off.

Once they did come around, which was a very long time later, Yuuki had explained why they had taken so long to getting to the guild; they were attacked. "And by Ai, no less!" the Skitty exclaimed, flailing her arms about to dramatize her story. "Came with at least an army of Shadows! I thought she was supposed to be _killing _them!"

Chiwa, the more experienced Dimension Traveler of the two (Sayaka still had some trouble wrapping her mind around the concept of dimension-traveling people/Pokemon) and more analytical, told her theory about Ai's sudden turn-around; Despair. "Dimension Travelers who have Despair in their Souls can easily have their minds manipulated." For some reason, her gaze had flickered to Sayaka for a nanosecond before she continued. "Perhaps something had happened to her, or someone close to her."

"Like Eri?" Yuuki had suggested. Miyako had flinched at that, though nobody but Oktavia seemed to know why.

"_Probably,_" the mermaid witch had murmured. "_Ai isn't easily affected by things directed towards her, but to anyone close to her… erk,_" she winced, "_Despair'll be imminent._"

While Sayaka had been very interested in the topic, Kyosuke had dragged her off to buy some sweets and taiyaki that she hadn't been able to listen to the following discussion. The bluenette couldn't blame the Torchic when she saw his face at obtaining some pocky sticks, though, so she forgot about it eventually.

It came rushing back at her now, and right when Kyosuke and Sadie had just returned with a Spiral Smoothie each, contented looks on their face as they sipped the drink. Sayaka was just about to ask for a quick taste of it, too… so unless she got another straw, she wouldn't be able to taste the drink everyone had been nuts about.

"**_Do it! You know you want to._**"

"**_Go die, witch._**"

The Wynaut had just arrived in the middle of a staring match, and he hastily deposited the drinks and hurried off towards the front again.

Before the glowering Sayaka could shoot any more insults towards the smirking Oktavia, two figures burst into the café in a hurry, shooting past all other tables and skidding to a stop in front of their table. One had pink hair with a pair of cat ears tying it up into two pigtails, and wore a fuzzy pink capelet at the neck. Under that, she wore a one-piece pale yellow dress, and fluffy winter boots.

The other was slightly taller, with straight black hair with cream streaks and a headband with a gold coin situated on the middle. She donned a peach hoodie with a hood that had two cat ears on it, and a short pleated cream skirt.

At first, the group had no idea who they were. Then, the two Skitty and Meowth tails waved tiredly from behind the duo, and they recognized them at once.

"Yuuki? Chiwa?" Sadie asked in confusion, still calmly drinking her smoothie. "What's the problem?"

"It's… hor… horrible!" Chiwa gasped. "Shadows… Amp Plains… everywhere!"

"And when she means everywhere, she means _everywhere _'cause they're like _everywhere _and they're swarming all over the place and there were no more than three exploration teams and a school field trip in there!" Contrast to Chiwa, Yuuki was saying all her words in a single breath. "I saw the students were still elementary of all grades and there were so many Water-types in there and heck, even the _teacher _is a Water-type, they don't stand a chance, you gotta help us!"

The Skitty took in a long breath and slumped on their table tiredly. "Um… please?"

"Consider it done!" Sayaka said, standing up and placing a good deal of money on the table. "We can't let those kids and exploration teams get hurt!"

"This is her justice side talking, right?" Sadie whispered.

Artie nodded, sighing as he downed the entire espresso in one gulp. "I was hoping to save this…"

"Ehh?" Miyako yelped as she finished wrapping her daintily prepared cheesecake. "But I was just starting to eat my slice…"

"No way out now," Kyosuke grumbled as he finished his smoothie even faster than Artie. "Once she gets all justice-y and crap, she'll never shut up."

Sadie, however, stood up along with Sayaka and raised her fist. "Right! Gotta help Pokemon, got it!" she exclaimed excitedly, readying herself to zoom out the café, drink still in hand. The Totodile pulled her down, and Sadie downed the rest of her drink once she noticed her mistake.

Chiwa shot them a grateful smile, just as Oktavia shook her head with amused disapproval and her cape flickered in view. Seconds later, all that was left of the group was the table with lots of cups and glasses finished in a hurry.

* * *

"_HOW MANY OF THESE ARE THERE?!_" Kyosuke yelled in anger and impatience as he stabbed another Shadowed Electrike in the gut. It cried out in pain and slumped to the ground in unconsciousness, a shadowy tendril escaping from its body and dissipating. Before the Torchic could even take a breather, he spun around instinctively to fire a stream of flames at a Shadowed Pikachu that had tried to zap him.

"An infinite number, if we're lucky," Artie grumbled in response, a typhoon of fire encircling all Shadowed Pokemon in the near vicinity (and any that had touched a hair on Sadie's head). A Shadowed Magnetite dashed towards the Ninetales, but Artie simply snapped his fingers and the poor thing was ablaze with fire in an instant.

"Lucky? You call this lucky?!" Miyako squeaked as she barely managed to dodge a bolt of electricity that had zigzagged towards her. With great difficulty, she conjured up four Shadow Balls that levitated around her and bashed against any advancing Shadowed Pokemon. One managed to slip through her defense – a Shadowed Pichu – but at the exact same time, her chain timepiece glowed brightly and engulfed the Pichu in a strong psychic hold. Its mental strength weak, it crumpled to the ground.

Sadie scoffed. "This is just more than what we're used to, isn't it?" In contrast to her words, however, she was sweating and panting heavily, her stamina still not very high. She really, _really _wished she had long-range attacks right now; Shadowed Magnetite Pokemon had extra tough skin that caused her more pain than them. Feeling something moving towards her from behind at the speed of light, she spun around and shot a half dozen knives at whatever it was. The Shadowed Pikachu shrieked as the blades dug into its skin and it fell backwards, bleeding from six different places.

"Never mind the infinite number, where are the kids?" Sayaka asked, having to shout over all the noise. She shielded herself with her cutlass as a Shadowed Jolteon leapt at her, but as soon as she dug the blade into its leg, the cutlass bent uselessly and she scowled, throwing it away. It smacked into the back of a Shadowed Electrike's head, and it fainted right then and there on the ground behind her. Sayaka didn't notice her peculiar victory, however, as she was a bit more concerned on flinging the Jolteon away with her newly summoned cutlass.

"Somewhere deeper, I think!" Yuuki replied, notching an arrow into place as she shot it at a howling Shadowed Flaaffy. "The teacher probably lead them into a safer area than this." The Skitty felt something stun her shoulder and fry a corner of her capelet, and she turned around with a murderous look in her eyes, arrow and bow glowing a bright pink in her anger. "Did… Did you just burn my _capelet_?" The Shadowed Ampharos, undeterred, charged forward with a Thunderpunch ready, but a storm of arrows rained down upon it and it fell back almost immediately. Yuuki huffed victoriously.

"I'm really not even sure we're going the right way," Chiwa exclaimed worriedly, throwing several bombs and grenades in the areas crowded with Shadows (which was just about everywhere not occupied by one of the team). Explosions were ringing left and right, and the Meowth jumped backwards to prevent a Manectric from slashing violently at her spine. "I do hope they're still alright…" A bow and arrow appearing out of nowhere, Chiwa fired it at a Shadowed Pikachu who had been advancing on Yuuki from behind.

"_Oh, yes, yes we are~_" Oktavia sang as she levitated in the air with her navy blue cape flowing around her, playing her violin amidst the explosions and other kinds of disruptive noise. You'd think no one would hear anything, but her violin rang clear and fulfilling its duty, as several Shadowed Pokemon went mad and banged their hands to unconsciousness on the jutting rocks and boulders in the Amp Plains. A bolt of zigzagging lighting raced up towards her, but the mermaid need not do anything as it crashed against a barrier made up entirely of musical notes.

"Of course _you'd _know," Chiwa muttered under her breath, throwing another grenade at a clump of Shadowed Mareep and Flaaffy Pokemon. "You know _everything_."

"Like where we're supposed to be going right now!" Sayaka yelled, summoning a storm of cutlasses and raining them down on a particularly stubborn Manectric. However, after doing this, her concentration wavered a bit and a splitting headache attacked her brain. An Electrike seized its chance and latched on to her leg, sending six thousand volts throughout her body. With a scream of pain, the Totodile staggered backwards and kicked the Shadowed Pokemon off her leg; it smacked against a stone wall and fainted, but the deed had been done.

Kyosuke went livid, unsurprisingly. Using his spear, he cut a path straight through the crowd of Shadowed Pokemon and zoomed forward, the direction they were going. Noticing this advance, the rest of the group followed with varying difficulty.

Unfortunately for Sadie, a Shadowed Magneton blocked her way and refused to let her get through, zapping her each time she came in contact with it. Frustrated, the Eevee focused all her anger in one area; her hands. Before she knew it, she was raising both palms up and a manifestation of a black beast had sunken its shark-like teeth into the Magneton's entire body. It didn't even manage to shriek before it was knocked out.

Miyako had a little bit more trouble. Her Shadow Balls had dissipated, and in summoning them, her energy had been sucked straight out of her body. No matter how much she tried, her chain timepiece wouldn't activate its mysterious psychic powers anymore, and she was forced to use her sharp reflexes and nimble body to zip through the Shadowed Pokemon. She tired out easily, though, and bumped and tripped against an angry Ampharos, its fist sparking with electricity. With a timid squeak, Miyako just barely managed to roll away in time before she was made into fried Eevee, and she tackled the surprised Shadow with all the force she could muster in her exhausted body. Although it fell to the ground and Miyako managed to get away from the rest of the Shadows, she was ridiculously tired and would give anything to have a nice long rest.

All the others, especially Artie and Chiwa, escaped with ease. Artie simply had to burn a pathway of fire in front of him, and the Shadows didn't dare touch it in fear of having their host's skin scorched right off. The Ninetales didn't waste time swaggering in front of them, however, as he rushed forward and shot streams of fire against random Pokemon he could see were trying to stop the others' advances. Yuuki made it through by firing an unlimited number of arrows per second, driving away any and all Shadowed Pokemon that tried through her, and all Chiwa had to do was throw a couple bombs here and there to clear a single path for her.

Oktavia, noticing her teammates' actions, sighed in disappointment. "_It's been such a long time I got to have some fun,_" she grumbled and reluctantly followed them as they dashed through the rough lands of Amp Plains in a hurry to find the students and exploration teams. However, the mermaid witch had seen all three teams evacuate the area as soon as possible when they heard of the sudden invasion, and all that remained was the school.

It didn't take long for the group to find the students, as they themselves were causing a large ruckus. Several were crying, while some were trying to 'fight the bad Pokemons!' with their weak flames or scratches. Yuuki's statement had been true; most of the teachers were indeed Water-types, and the rest that weren't were Flying-types. They were fighting off the Shadowed Pokemon, but they weren't doing very well – a Staravia had fallen unconscious, bleeding at the side, and an Azumarill had to take over to protect the students from the Shadows.

The rest wasted no time in helping out. While the other teachers that weren't battle-trained evacuated the students in a long underground tunnel that lead back to the entrance, the other teachers and the teams fended off the Shadows from the other students. However…

Kyosuke's ears picked up the sound of a shrill, female scream, and he looked around, but Sayaka, Sadie, Miyako, Yuuki, Chiwa, and Oktavia were perfectly fine and didn't seem to have heard the scream…

The scream sounded again, but it seemed like only he could hear it, and then Kyosuke turned his head to the left –

And then he saw it: a small black-haired Pokemon, clutched in the hands of a Shadowed Electabuzz, and the Pokemon was trying to struggle free from its grip. Eyes widening, Kyosuke dashed forward readily to help the Pokemon (it had a black-and-white gothita theme, but he couldn't identify it very good…), but a pink blur had already zoomed straight towards it with agility even he couldn't match.

The pink-haired Pokemon smashed his body straight against the Electabuzz, causing the Shadowed Pokemon to screech loudly and let go of the black-white Pokemon. Thinking quickly, the pinkette caught the Pokemon (seeing clearly now, Kyosuke could spot the skull headband on its head) and set her down gently.

However, the Electabuzz wasn't down yet, and while the pinkette had his back turned, it seized its chance and rushed forward, Thunderpunch at the ready. The pinkette turned around, but it was too late to dodge or block, and Kyosuke had his hands full with a Shadowed Raichu –

_Thonk!_

And… and… and Yuuki just shot an arrow right in the Electabuzz's eye. It shrieked, then crumpled to the ground with shadowy tendrils disappearing in the air above it.

"You okay?" she called out to the two students as they stared up at the Skitty with admiration. Their teacher came over and hurried them towards the tunnel before they could properly thank her, though, and Kyosuke returned to stabbing the Raichu in the shins.

* * *

Eventually, the Shadowed Pokemon thinned out, and the whole school had filed out to reach the entrance once more. The exploration teams followed their example, and soon found themselves back at the crossroads near the guild.

"How can we ever thank you for all your help?" The principal, an old Alakazam with his blonde hair turning gray, asked. "If you hadn't been there, my students would all have been killed!"

"He couldn't care less about us," the black-haired Pokemon muttered as the pinkette wrapped her arm in bandages, tutting disapprovingly.

"Now, now, Homura-chan, you know you shouldn't be like that," he scolded lightly, tying the bandage into a ribbon to finish it off. "If the principal heard you, he'll be really mad, you know?"

While Oktavia and Artie were negotiating with the principal, Kyosuke took a good look at the duo. The black-haired one, Homura, he supposed, was a Houndour; she had long black hair that split at the end, and an ebony headband with a skull at the side, greatly contrasting with the dark colors. She wore a simple black dress with white frills at the sides, and white elbow-length gloves. A pair of signature dog ears popped up from underneath her headband, and her black-white tail waved slowly behind her.

The pinkette, on the other hand, seemed a bit… unnatural, he thought. He had pink hair that was slightly long, which was unusual for a guy, and a pink woolly winter coat. Complete with wool gloves and boots, he looked almost… sheepish. The tail that poked out from his behind with an orb at the tip didn't help either. He didn't know what kind of Pokemon he was, or if he was a Pokemon at all. He was sure only those from some kind of sheep family would have that tail…

"You didn't have to help me, Makoto," Homura exclaimed, flipping her hair to the side in some kind of haughty-looking manner. "I was… handling it… handling it fine by myself."

For some reason, the Houndour looked almost pained to say that.

Makoto simply sighed with a small smile. "Well, okay, then…"

Before Kyosuke could eavesdrop on their conversation any longer, Sayaka dragged him towards the principal to share goodbyes and go separate ways. Yuuki and Chiwa lingered for a little bit, saying the Skitty had felt a potential aura, whatever that was…

… And then the duo skipped up towards them.

Perhaps not 'skipped', exactly, but they both looked very excited when they saw their idol. Yuuki whispered something to her Meowth companion, and Chiwa nodded with an almost unnoticeable smile. With that done, Yuuki proceeded to kneel down to face the children on eye level and hear Makoto's words of praise. Homura stood by the side awkwardly, before giving in to the pinkette's insistence and murmuring a reluctant 'thank you'.

Yuuki merely had to smile.

* * *

Back at the guild dorm, Sayaka had managed to retrieve Miyako's cheesecake where Oktavia had teleported it, and the Eevee dashed off to give her little present to the Mawile. Kyosuke, on the other hand, fell asleep the instant his head hit the pillow…

… And promptly had to wake up ten minutes later. The reason to this was because Makoto and Homura had snuck in their room to see what an exploration team was, and Sadie was utterly speechless at how good the duo was at sneaking around. In seconds, she was begging for Artie to allow her to teach them some more techniques in going by unnoticed and pranking other Pokemon, and while the children were enthusiastic about it, the Ninetales firmly disagreed, saying it would 'corrupt their little minds'.

Not that it mattered, because as soon as Artie went off to tell Cirra, Sadie set to work on laying out a battle plan and how to get the Ninetales's guard down so as to dump a water bucket on him. Oktavia's assistance was worrisome.

Deciding to cut to the chase when Kyosuke saw Yuuki, he neared her and whispered, "Exactly what kind of Pokemon is that pink guy?"

The Skitty tilted her head for a bit, before smiling. "Oh! He's a shiny Mareep. All Dimension Travelers appear as shiny Pokemon, as well as those with potential." As if to emphasize her point, Yuuki flicked her wrist and her clothes turned a slightly darker hue, showing her shininess. "Of course, there are also natural shiny Pokemon, so don't think every single shiny you see is automatically a Dimension Traveler~" she giggled.

"Huh." Kyosuke turned to look back at the pinkette and the black-haired Houndour. "Interesting. Are you gonna try to… I dunno, teach him the ways of your race, or whatever?"

"Maybe."

"… hm…"

Just when Kyosuke was about to go back to bed, Artie entered the room in a run, narrowly missing the bucket of water that clanged on the floor. Makoto and Sadie let out a disappointed 'aww!' while Homura rolled her eyes in a way that said 'I knew this would happen'.

The Ninetales smirked a bit, before turning to the matter at hand. "Cirra says, since we're officially an exploration team now, and there isn't an age limit for members, these two can join our team if their parents allow it. I, personally, think they'll be much safer at home." He crossed his arms and shot a warning look at Sadie.

"Oh, but they don't have parents," Artie piped up. Every pair of eyes in the room instantly turned to him with curiosity. "The school they go to is like an orphanage, too, since that's a school for Pokemon with no parents or guardians."

"Even so, would it be wise for them to join a team as dangerous as, er… us?" Sayaka asked. "I mean, we fight Shadows and get involved in lots of weird stuff, so…"

Chiwa suddenly stood up from the chair next to the table. "They will be fine," she said in a final decision kind of voice. "They are strong enough to handle themselves, and I will be teaching them in their teachers' place. Yuuki will help."

"E-Eh?" the Skitty looked surprised, but nodded anyway. "Er, u-um, sure!"

"Yes!" Sadie pumped her fist in the air. "I get students too!"

Artie poked her forehead forcefully. "_No._"

"Aww…"

Makoto, at the news of joining one of the teams, grinned widely and rushed to Yuuki's side. "I'm gonna come with Yuu's team!" he declared with excitement. Homura hesitated, before following Makoto and staying next to him.

Yuuki, a bit confused and amused at the same time, turned to the oddly silent Oktavia for advice. The mermaid witch, noticing her look, smirked and stood up. "_Fine. Yuuki and Chiwa will form an exploration team, then._"

"W-_WHAT?!_" Chiwa yelled.

The decision was final, though, and Oktavia accompanied the excited Yuuki and sputtering Chiwa to the guild supervisor.

* * *

**4k special on the thirteenth chapter, baby! Woo.**

**Enter Yuuki, Chiwa, Homura, and Male!Madoka. Who, incidentally, is named Makoto, and I'm not sure if the hint is obvious enough...**

**Anyway! Something that amuses me is that Houndoom is known as the Dark Pokemon, while Ampharos is known as the Light Pokemon. So, it's kind of like Homura and Madoka/Makoto being complete opposites...**

**Leave a review, please~**

_**Reisu, 8/18/13**_


	14. Extra 1: The Mermaid's Interview

"_OKTAVIA!_"

The mermaid witch, unperturbed, looked up from her book and stared amusedly at the fuming Sayaka, Sadie whistling innocently a few ways away. "_Yes? What is the matter?_"

"You know _full _well what the matter is," the Totodile replied bluntly, crossing her arms and glaring at Oktavia. "Why, oh _why _did you put Superglue all over Cirra's feathers?"

Oktavia looked at the bluenette with a blank look in her eyes. "_I have no idea what you're talking about._"

"LIKE HELL!"

"_Fine, okay, I admit I _did _buy those from the local Camouflage Market, but I was only an accomplice. It's not like I can graduate if I wasn't the real culprit._" The mermaid witch smirked knowingly.

Sayaka's angry expression faded away to show bemusement. "Culprit…? Graduation…? Are you talking about some kind of murder in a school?"

Oktavia looked almost surprised. "_Indeed… how'd you know?_"

"I guessed." Silence. "… Wait a minute, we got off track! Anyway, witch, you really have got to stop helping Sadie out with her pranks! It's bad enough when she used to do it by herself before, now she has you and those two kids! I don't want you guys to corrupt them!"

"Aren't they already?" the Eevee piped up.

The Totodile paid her no mind. "Are you listening?!"

Oktavia's gaze had fallen back down to page two hundred and fifty four of her book, and was no longer paying much attention to her host. At Sayaka's irritated voice, however, the mermaid witch spoke quickly, "_If you're just going to question me, why don't you just stay here and give me an interview, or something?_"

"W…? W-Well, fine, then! If you say so!"

The unexpected reply came in one ear… and out the other. Again, Oktavia barely acknowledged the answer. However, Sayaka took it with full seriousness and plopped herself down on the other bed across Oktavia's. "Let's start, then."

Sadie, meanwhile, sighed in relief. Now there was only one more lecture to endure, which, if she caught him while he was reading, wouldn't matter too much. The Eevee snuck off as inconspicuously as possible.

* * *

"Tell me something about yourself?"

"_I was inside of you from the moment you were born, and when you started spiraling into that endless tunnel known as 'despair', I took every advantage available to me. That way, I could have finally set free, but… mmh…_"

"Oh, so your plan went downward, didn't it. Whatever, good. Now, what's your least favorite thing in the world?"

"_Shouldn't it be 'most' favorite? It's the more common question in interviews._"

"I'm using every advantage available to me."

"_Touché. I hate having to do things that other Pokemon are supposed to be doing. You know, like people shirking their duties. Like Ai…_"

"Sorry?"

"_Nothing. On another note, I like all kinds of Ai. Those are fun. Unlike the 'person' Ai…_"

"Person?"

"_I didn't say that._"

"Right… then, what's something you're comfortable in talking about? Might as well tell me all about it."

"_You're being unusually friendly!_"

"Shut up."

"_Hm._"

"You _know _what I mean, witch!"

"_Fine, fine. Well… Ai, for instance. They're energy forms, and they come in all colors, shapes, and sizes. As I'm a Matcher, I'm the only one in this group to see Ai, so if I see something like… a magnifying glass somewhere, I'll know there's currently… ahem, _NMKK _in the near vicinity. The size means that, if it is bigger, it's nearer, and the smaller the farther. Naturally, I get lots of unripe apples whenever you and Kyo-Kyo are around… sometimes so big I get hungry looking at them… hm…_"

"For your own sake, I'll ignore the apples comment, but kindly inform me about what _NMKK _is?"

"_Why, the last and first initials of two pe- … Pokemon together, of course. What did you think?_"

"Elaborate. Who are these? What do they look like? Are they irregulars too, or whatever you call us?"

"_Not irregulars, not really… though I suppose you could count the girl as one… I'm not sure. Really, they're a cute couple, but you're better off asking Yuuki about them. She loves those two to death._"

"That's not disconcerting in the least."

"_No, it isn't._"

"Mhm. Next… if you're so knowledgeable about Ai forms or whatever you call them, give me a list of your… your… favorite ones, or something."

"_Or something… you keep adding that to the end of your sentences… it's cute, in its own way, I guess. I do like a few… like, hm, the music note with angel wings… or, the red ribbon with a pinkish aura… or, the trident with an owl perching on it… or, hmm…_"

"That… should be enough… now pick something your absolute favorite is. Unripe apples don't count, just for your information."

"_How unfortunate! Oh, well, I think the electricity surrounding a hand works… _for your information_, its codename is _KTMM_. Not like you'd know what it is, anyway. Eri's more involved in that kind of stuff._"

"_KTMM_… you worry me sometimes…"

"_Perhaps._"

"Erm… let's move on. Now you were saying something about being a Matcher before, which apparently gives you some sort of second sight or whatever. Care to elaborate?"

"_Certainly… not. I am not qualified to give you that kind of information yet. Rest assured, you'll find out soon._"

"You sound like a machine!"

"_Is that a problem? Machines don't have emotions, do they? So you could say whatever you want to me and it wouldn't matter at all._"

"Is that what you really think?"

"_I am not qualified to give you that information. And this time, there is no 'yet'._"

"… Hmf. Be that way. What's that book you're reading anyway?"

"_… __You don't need to know._"

"I'm you're… what do you call it?… host, so I have every right to know what you're reading. It may save my life in the future!"

"_And then I could possess your body in your dying breaths, just before your life lines are all cut. Easy. But whatever, here, take a look for yourself._"

* * *

As Sayaka turned to the cover of the book Oktavia handed her, the Totodile's eyes widened and she felt just about ready to start hyperventilating. Meanwhile, the mermaid witch sat on her bed smugly.

"W-W-W-W-What is the meaning of this?!" Sayaka managed to choke out, clutching the book in a death grip. "Wait a minute, the author's…! You wrote this yourself?! Illustrations and all?"

"_Yes. Good for a first timer, hm?_"

"This was your _first time?!_"

Just then, the door swung open to reveal Makoto and Homura rushing in the room, then proceeding to hide underneath the beds. Surprised, Sayaka jumped up and flung the book back to the witch, peering underneath to blink confusedly at the two Pokemon. "Is… Is something wrong?"

"Sadie got into trouble," Homura replied bluntly, little dog ears twitching. "Now her boyfriend's trying to keep the door from being broken by the scary Dorm Supervisor."

"Boyfriend…?" Sayaka raised an eyebrow. Oktavia giggled behind her hand.

"Yeah! Now Chi and Yuu are trying to find good hiding places too, but I don't think they can be saved," Makoto said solemnly, with a completely serious look on his face.

Sayaka stared at the duo, feeling the overwhelming urge to start questioning the logic in their testimonies. Before she could do that, however, the door swung open a second time, revealing Artie in a panic. "Guys, Cirra is just barely being restrained with my fire lock. Does everybody still remember the evacuation plan?"

"Yes!" Makoto answered before Sayaka could question when and why they had constructed an evacuation plan.

"Good! Sadie and Kyosuke are already in the safe areas, Yuuki and Chiwa have escaped back into their room… all that's left are you guys. We don't have a secret passageway built in here yet, so go ahead and use Oktavia's mass teleportation abilities." Artie paused for a quick breath, and flinched while doing so. "She's breaking through, oh _Arceus_, what kind of massive strength does she have?! Hurry up, Oktavia!"

The mermaid witch rolled her eyes. "_So pushy, like Aoi… fine, fine, everyone gather 'round…_"

* * *

**Relatively short chapter this time, if you could ** **even call it a chapter. Anyways, this is the first Umi Extra, featuring Oktavia's Interview and many, many references! I hope you caught the popular ones!**

**Hint: One of Danganronpa's most popular pairings is in here. The references are in my profile, under the Umi entry. Have fun!**

_**Reisu, 8/26/13**_


	15. The Unwilling Traitor

Team Echo – which consisted of two Dimension Travelers, one potential, and the potential's friend – apparently got a room all to themselves. It was situated a bit further from Team Red Bean Paste and Team Tales' room, but if they wanted to, they could easily walk all the way to the room.

Through extensive explanations, Yuuki managed to explain the concept of being a Dimension Traveler to Makoto, and the shiny Mareep jumped at the chance to train with 'Yuu'. Homura volunteered to be support when needed. Chiwa, on the other hand, would teach them academic subjects in place of their previous teachers. The duo had opened their mouths to protest, but Chiwa's piercing glare was so similar to Homura's that both of them didn't bother arguing.

Now, their lives were pretty laidback. Taking only a few missions every now and then, they had lots of time for other activities, such as Kyosuke training his fire powers, Sayaka reading every single book she could find on the shelf, and Artie quickly filling up his notebook (and two others) with excuses and explanations to Sadie's growing amount of pranks on their Dorm Supervisor, Cirra.

Oktavia, on the other hand, enlisted Miyako to help her look for the mysteriously disappeared Ai. The mermaid witch claimed that, with Miyako's Tracing abilities, it would be quite easy to find her through psychic signature, but no such thing happened. The Eevee couldn't find a single psychic signature anywhere, not even back in the collapsed house.

All in all, life went on. Until a certain mission came.

* * *

It was a hot, summer day, and the teams were at Spiral's Café, drinking their cold shakes and generally relaxing in the air-conditioned café. The conversation at hand was about whether or not Kyosuke could really read the book _Fablehaven_.

"Seriously!" he shouted, throwing his hands up in the air. "I can't read a single word of this! It just says a bunch of gibberish! How do you _read _this, Sayaka?"

The Totodile smirked and snatched the book away from its spot in front of Kyosuke. "Because I'm _smarter _than you. Here, I'll even demonstrate it." Flipping to a random page, she read aloud, "_Kendra was concerned when she cut into her steak. The middle was pink, almost red at the center. Grandpa Sorenson and Dale were already taking bites._" She closed the book, her lip still curling up. "See?"

"Ehh-!" the Torchic pouted, crossing his arms. "How unfair. That's probably the only legible line in the whole book!"

Oktavia sighed. "_Here, let me see._" With a snatch similar to Sayaka's previous one, she flipped the book to another page and stared at it for one good minute. She closed it hesitantly. "_It's… just probably one of your special abilities, Aoi. So you're a Chronicler too? Kaori would like that…_"

"I'm a what now?" the Totodile raised an eyebrow.

The mermaid witch simply turned around and started whistling innocently.

Before Sayaka could summon six thousand cutlasses, the door burst open to reveal a panicking Miyako, a crumpled piece of paper in her fist. "Mission! Mission!" she cried out in a hurry, seemingly unable to form complete sentences. "E… mergency…"

"What's the problem?" Artie asked casually, sipping his tea in a dignified sort of manner.

"Sha… dows! Shadows! With Ai! Trouble, trouble!" Miyako shouted, shoving the paper in the surprised Sadie's hands. Taking a deep breath, she continued. "Um, uh… Yuuki and Chiwa went out to have one of their daily scouting trips ("_Doing who-knows-what while they're at it, I bet,_") a-and then they saw Ai with what looked like… like… like an _army _of Shadows with her! There were so many, they said! So they retreated and wrote this down for me to deliver…" the Eevee paused for a quick breath, "And they want to- to… why don't you read it, by the way?!"

Sadie hastily moved to smoothen the mission paper in her hands and read aloud, "_To the teams, we have big trouble over here at Crystal Cavern. Ai's got an army of Shadows, we think, and we have no idea if we can handle this on our own. We'll be needing some of your help, but don't bring Makoto or Homura in this mess. Either get someone to watch over them or something, we don't care, do whatever, but this is too dangerous for their first mission. Oh, and Chiwa says she'll kill you if you do bring them along, so if you value your lives, leave them. –Echo_."

"When Chiwa makes a threat, she really means it," Miyako squeaked intelligently. "So maybe I c-could volunteer to watch over them? Since I'm not really _that _strong anyway…"

Oktavia raised an eyebrow, but didn't argue. Instead, she turned her attention to the letter Sadie had now passed her. "_Hm… Ai with an army of Shadows, is it…_" For a few minutes, her face remained blank and unreadable while everyone else started organizing their weapons of choice, Sadie in particular restocking her knives and making sure the holsters at her legs were still attached. Suddenly, the mermaid witch's eyes widened as if she had come to a realization, and she levitated up abruptly, surprising nearly everyone in the room.

"_Ai… with an army of Shadows… those Poison-type punks… and Eri… it all makes sense now! Of course, of course, why didn't I think of it before? Holy Arceus– I'm so stupid! L-Let's go, hurry now, Artie, if you're looking for your flame sword tester, I hid it in the washing machine downstairs two days ago, okay?_" Oktavia received a dirty look for that but she didn't even care right now. "_Hurry, we have to go! One, two–_"

In a flash of navy blue, the teams had all disappeared except for Miyako. Disconcerted at the strange silence that echoed in the room, the Eevee quickly sped off to Team Echo's room, sneaking a glance at Artie's notebook on the way to see what kind of story she'll tell the kids.

* * *

When they had arrived at the so-called 'Crystal Cavern', which Oktavia seemed to have visited all the time, they instantly winced at the chaos blasting in front of them.

It seemed as if Shadows had overrun the place. Pokemon of all species with familiar blood-red eyes and a strange kind of aura around them were crawling all over the place, hissing and spitting and wrenching crystals off the cave wall and licking it strangely – now that Sayaka thought about it, why was she even looking at this?

An array of pink glowing arrows rained down on a large group of Glameow and Purugly Shadows, piercing every single body part they could reach. With yowls of pain, the cat-like Shadowed Pokemon slinked away, before dark tendrils zipped out of their bodies. Through that, the group easily located Yuuki's location, and about half the teams went off to help her.

They heard several loud explosions coming from over the western side of the wide cavern, and a cream-colored blur was zooming every which way, throwing tiny grey specks, only for those specks to explode seconds after the blur had left them. The remaining half made their way towards the bomb-throwing Chiwa for assistance.

Only Oktavia remained, and through her razor-sharp vision, she spotted the Ninetales sitting on a tall rock with a flat tip, and she observed everything happening around her with an indifferent gaze. Only when the mermaid witch had drifted over to her did Ai spare Oktavia a glance. "What brings you, Oktavia?" she asked, in a strange, sickly sweet voice.

"_Why are you doing this, Ai? I thought you were someone who could see into the future? Don't tell me all you see is Despair again,_" Oktavia responded just as sweetly, almost as if mixing sugar with some kind of bitter chemical. "_Surely someone as smart as you know you needn't antagonize your own race if you know you could ask us for help._"

Ai reacted just as the witch thought she would; the Ninetales gave a violent jerk of the eye, and she stood up straighter, her buttons clearly having been pushed forcefully. "I do not require help from traitorous scum like you," she replied, fake kindness abandoned completely from her voice. "They took her from me; I'll get her back myself."

"_Traitorous scum, she says,_" Oktavia sing-songed, her hand brandishing a long cutlass that clearly hadn't been there before. "_You really think you are in the right place to be calling me that, Ai?_"

Another explosion sounded from the distance, as well as a piercing cry.

Ai glared harshly at the mermaid witch. "Do not argue with me, Oktavia. Maybe I am not as strong as you, but I can be quite aggressive if I put my mind to it." With a flourish and a wave from all her nine blue-tipped tails, a long spear wrapped in blue flaming chains glittered into appearance in Ai's clenched fist.

"_Perhaps. But you know that I am also in that kind of mental state, right? What do you call it… _Overprotectiveness_, was it?_"

Oktavia's jeering tone set Ai's eyes aflame, and the Ninetales launched herself at the mermaid witch, screaming something unintelligible at her, waving the spear around wildly; Oktavia easily sidestepped it on the air, and she watched unwaveringly as Ai regained her composure, summoning a blue will-o-wisp and sitting cross-legged on it.

"Oktavia, I do not wish to fight you."

"_I kinda doubt that._"

"Are we in a reference match now, Oktavia?"

"_You've got that wrong, Ai._"

The Ninetales's eyes softened, just the tiniest bit; it did not go unnoticed by Oktavia, and the corner of her lip curled upwards. "You can't possibly use his catchphrase like that."

"_Oh, but Yuuki adores him and that detective girl. She's bound to teach that to our little Makoto-kun someday._"

"For his own sanity and safety, I hope not."

"_I thought we were supposed to be fighting, Ai._"

Without another word, the blue flame dispersed from underneath the Ninetales, and her eyes hardened once more. A smirk appeared on her lips. "If you say so."

Making the first move, Oktavia sent a set of fortune wheels rolling towards Ai in rapid speed, but, accustomed to this move, the Ninetales zipped out of the way in obvious smugness. Raising her spear, Ai muttered an incantation and the chains unraveled from the spear, instead, rushing towards Oktavia and chaining her arms together, and her cutlass dropped from her hand. Its tip made severe contact with a Honchkrow's head, however, so it was not for vain.

"Got you," Ai drawled, and with a flick of her spear, she sent the mermaid witch crashing to the ground. When the smoke cleared, however, Oktavia seemed barely even bruised. The chains dispersed, returning to wrap around the spear once more, and the mermaid witch once again went back up in the air through levitation.

"_Got me, my scaly ass…_" Oktavia grumbled. "_You of all people should know you have never 'gotten me' once during any of our sparring sessions. I know what you used to call that move; _Catene di Blu_, was it?_"

Ai, flushing scarlet, waved her spear like a wand and this time, the chains did not unravel; instead, they flew upwards and disappeared with a tiny sparkle. Facing the mermaid witch eye-to-eye, the Ninetales just now noticed how desperate Oktavia actually felt. There was a telltale sign of eyebags, and she had never seen the mermaid witch summon her cutlass in a very long time, even in the past world, when her host was asleep and the witch went out with them through Spirit form, usually accompanied with Gretchen.

"Worried for me, were you?" she daringly asked, thinking it was probably safe to taunt Oktavia from a distance like this; she knew the witch's fighting style better than anyone, she knew the witch couldn't use her fortune wheels again in this range, and she didn't exactly like using close combat. She was practically powerless in this area.

"_Shut up,_" came the usual blunt reply she so used to. Oktavia's face was blank and unreadable once again, just like those times when Yuuki convinced her to try and figure out the culprit and the victim in a murder mystery…

"You were always very soft," Ai continued without paying mind to the witch's insult. "You were poking your nose in every Dungeon you could find, hoping you'd come across me, weren't you?"

"_I thought I told you to shut up, Ai,_" Oktavia deadpanned, obviously not amused. But the Ninetales was just getting started, and although she noticed the witch's fist clenching tighter around the handle of her cutlass, Ai didn't relent.

"And then you used to read those books of Kaori's just because you knew, just _knew _your host would be a Chronicler in her next life and you thought you would notice the signs if she were…"

"_Ai, I'm warning you…_" Contrary to Ai's belief, fortune wheels were spinning agitatedly around Oktavia now, and her face was turning a dangerous shade of angry red.

"Oh, yes, and how could I forget how nicely you took to Ophelio? A _shame _you can't establish your telepathic connection with him anymore, hm? I wonder why, _hm_? Maybe he's in some kind of… _trouble_?"

At that, the witch snapped, and fortune wheels were sent flying towards the surprised Ninetales; at the last moment, though, she managed to summon the chains back from their sanctuary to form a sloppy barricade to block the wheels from driving her face to the ground. Oktavia, red with rage, raised her cutlass in a style Ai recognized immediately.

"Oktavia, no, you idiot, I didn't mean it, Ophelio isn't in any danger, I didn't do anything, Oktavia, don't, your host is right here-"

"_I came running after you! I called you! I begged you to come back!_" the mermaid witch screeched, not unlike the Shadows from below. "_Do you know how Arceusdamn _worried _I was?_"

Ai seemed taken aback, and her protests died in her throat. "You- You were… worried?"

"_DIDN'T I JUST FUCKING SAY SO?_"

She winced, and then all of a sudden, she felt tears prick her eyes – she could tell her now, tell her how sorry she was, that she would do everything to pay her back, just in return for _her_ to come back safely, too –

But Ai knew that wouldn't happen because the Great Wave of the Ocean Floor had already swept them all away –

* * *

**An update at last! Yee!**

**A few references here and there, and ooh, Oktavia cursed. Also, Ai's personality had really changed in this chapter, huh...**

**Well anyway, to sum this thing up: Well, shit.**

**Anyway, hope you guys keep reading, wherever you are! Don't forget to review nice things. 3**

_**Reisu, 9/06/13**_


End file.
